A Different Path
by Tsuki the Wolf
Summary: At a young age, Saeran learned coding with his brother. As a result, Saeyoung refused to leave Saeran behind insisting he could help the agency as well. With both Choi brothers now agents and RFA members, how will this affect the Mint Eye plot?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I told myself that I would wait to write this until I updated Memories of a Family, but the idea was far too tempting. I wanted to write a story that felt completely different. And so now I have a story where Saeran is part of the RFA! You'll notice a difference in how certain characters act because of this.**

 **For the record, I'm going to try to focus more on the plot of the story and the relationship between the brothers with everyone in the RFA. Yes there will be a lot of Yuna (MC) because, again, the plot hinders on her quite a bit, but I'd like to play around with how different this world is if I can. That being said, I'm hoping this won't be a long project.**

 **This is the first time I'm writing such an...OC version of MC. MC has always been the reader in my stories (with some exceptions), so I hope to make her feel very much like her own character in this one! I hope she's enjoyable.**

 **Please leave a review if you've enjoyed or just have something you wish to say! Long or short, I love all feedback!**

* * *

" _I won't leave without him." Saeyoung felt like his hands were shaking. His heart was thumping hard in his chest as if he had just spotted one of those men in black outfits stalking after him. This was his chance. He could finally escape from his father's sight. He could finally be free from the risk of his capture. But what V was suggesting . . . no, Saeyoung couldn't do it. No matter how tempting it was._

" _Don't be hasty." V chided gently but firmly. "I know that it will be difficult for you, but you can trust us to take care of Saeran."_

" _No, it's not that." Saeyoung shook his head quickly. He didn't want V to think that he didn't trust him or Rika. He trusted both of them wholeheartedly! "I just . . . Saeran can code too! That boy has been reading the books . . . he's just as good as I am. T-The agency won't be unhappy if they take us both!"_

" _It's not possible, Luciel. The agency won't accept you if you have family."_

 _Saeyoung felt his throat clenching, but he refused to cry. Desperation warred with his self-preservation. He knew that Saeran would be safe in V and Rika's hands, but he didn't want to leave his brother behind. They had been through so much together . . . he couldn't bear it._

" _Then . . . Then I won't go." He finally managed to get out. "I'll just keep saving money. Saeran and I will leave together."_

 _V looked surprised, but pitying. Saeyoung was growing to really despise that look. "How will you be safe from your father, though?"_

" _I don't know. But I'll figure something out!" Saeyoung knew he was smart, but he was also hoping that V would help him either way._

 _V watched him silently for a few moments. The church bells began to ring overhead, drowning out Saeyoung's thoughts. He didn't know what would happen now. He could still save up money. Maybe he could find a way to hide his and Saeran's existence? It would be hard for them to live on the run from adults, though. Saeran wasn't physically strong, and he became sick a lot. Saeyoung would have to learn medical skills as well. Did they have that kind of time?_

" _Let me talk to the intelligence agency." V finally spoke with a sigh. "I can't guarantee anything, but maybe they'll make an exception."_

" _V . . . !" Saeyoung breathed, hope filling his chest._

 _V placed a hand on Saeyoung's shoulder. "I'll talk to Rika and the agency. I will let you know soon. In the meantime . . . be aware that the agency might be hard for Saeran. And . . . Let's see if we can get him a baptismal name too."_

* * *

A hand shook Saeyoung's shoulder. Saeyoung shifted and pressed his face more into his pillow, chasing the dream that was already gone from his mind. There weren't many people who could access his home, which meant it was probably Vanderwood trying to wake him. But wait, Vanderwood was never this nice about it, and he wasn't being threatened with a taser. He couldn't smell any cigarettes either.

"Saeyoung, wake up already. How late did you go to bed?" Saeyoung's eyes opened to be pleasantly met by the sight of Saeran. The other man had a small impatient frown on his face as he shook his brother's shoulder again. "Wake up. I need your help."

"Help with what?" Saeyoung murmured as he pushed himself into a sitting position with a wide yawn. "When did you get back?"

"Just now." Saeran rubbed at his eyes. They looked somewhat bloodshot, which meant he had left his contacts in for too long again. He would need to sleep soon, Saeyoung noted, but first he needed a hug from his brother. He threw his arms around Saeran's shoulders and pulled him into a tight embrace, grinning with delight. Saeran sighed and pushed against Saeyoung half-heartedly, but more because he felt like he had to struggle a bit. He smelled like asphalt and cheap leather. He really must have just returned.

Saeyoung pulled back. "I'm glad you're safe. You had me worried, bro!"

"Sorry. The mission got a little complicated and I wasn't allowed to call you for help." Saeran shrugged but his face spoke volumes about how he felt about that. Saeran had never been able to hide his emotions around Saeyoung no matter how hard he tried. Saeyoung felt the same. He hated that the Agency used the brothers against each other and wouldn't let them help each other. The bastards kept testing each of their abilities away from each other, but Saeyoung knew they picked on Saeran the most because he was physically weaker. It infuriated Saeyoung.

"But you succeeded, right? You're okay?"

"Yes." Saeran nodded and sat down heavily next to Saeyoung. He dug through his coat pocket and held out a cell phone. It looked completely different than the last one Saeran had had. This one didn't have a case on it. "But I had to destroy my phone. You changed the location of the RFA app and now I can't find it. Can you redownload it for me?"

"You're just feeling too lazy to look for yourself." Saeyoung accused good-naturedly as he took the phone and searched for the RFA app to add to Saeran's new phone.

"Shut up. I'm tired. At least you got to sleep." Saeran whined and rubbed at his eyes again.

"Stop that or you'll irritate them more."

"Where are my glasses, then?"

"Bedside drawer." Saeran climbed to his feet and found his glasses quickly in the drawer. He retreated to the bathroom to take out his contacts. Saeyoung tossed his brother's phone onto the bed and stretched languorously. Already his mood was significantly better now that he didn't have to worry about his twin being killed overseas (or wherever they had sent him. Saeran needed to fill him in on the details). However with Saeran back, that meant Vanderwood most likely wouldn't be far behind. He was bound to come to check up on Saeyoung's own mission progress, and no doubt he knew that Saeran had come back to Saeyoung's house.

"Have you briefed with the maid?" Saeyoung called as he scooped up both Saeran's phone and his own phone and approached the bathroom. He waited outside the propped open door for his brother to finish what he needed to as Saeyoung accessed the RFA app on his phone. He could see that some people were already online. He grinned at the sight of Yuna's name. His great day was getting better fast.

"No." Saeran groaned. "He's coming soon, right?"

"Probably."

"I really don't want to deal with him yet."

 **[707 has entered the chatroom!]**

 **Yoosung** **:** Hi Seven!

 **Yuna:** Whoot Whoot~ Whoaaaa who's this guy?!

 **707: IT**

 **707: IS**

 **707: I!**

 **707: THE DEFENDER OF JUSTICE! 8D**

 **Yoosung:** omg

"I don't want to either." Saeyoung said as he typed, snickering. Saeran poked his head out of the door, glasses now on his face. Already his eyes were looking a bit better.

"Are you talking with Yuna again, or are you messing with Yoosung?" He asked, a knowing look in his eyes.

"Bit of both, actually."

"Of course." He held out his hand for his phone and so Saeyoung passed it over to him. Both brothers didn't take their eyes away from their devices as they wandered over to the couch and collapsed on it. Saeran even threw his feet over Saeyoung's lap in order to slump down further on the couch.

 **[500 has entered the chatroom!]**

 **707:** There he is!

 **Yuna** : Five, hi!

 **Yuna** : Thank God someone normal is finally here.

 **Yoosung** : Hey!

 **707** : Lololol are u really saying you're not normal?

 **Yuna** : I'm extra ;3

 **Yuna** : Extra-ordinary!

 **707** : omg

 **707** : I just thought of something horrible.

 **500** : Hello everyone.

 **Yuna** : What did you think of?

 **707** : I HAVEN'T HAD HONEY BUDDHA CHIPS IN OVER 15 HOURS

Saeran raised an eyebrow at Saeyoung, amused. Saeyoung's cheeks were burning a little bit and hurting from his smile. He ignored his brother's looks. The lie easily and believable slipped into the chatroom. He couldn't stop his racing heart, after all, and felt ridiculous for it. Damn his crush!

 **Yoosung** : Anyway...where have you been, Five?

 **500** : Travelling.

 **707** : Saving the world as my sidekick!

 **500** : I'd rather not.

 **707** : Dreams of twinsie battle duo: DESTROYED. T-T

 **Yuna** : Time to call in 606!

 **707** : To the world of binary!

 **500** : Has anything happened while I was gone?

 **500** : I couldn't check because my phone broke :(

 **Yoosung** : Oh! You don't know!

 **Yuna** : Nobody told him?

 **707** : I haven't gotten the chance to.

 **500** : ?

 **Yoosung** : We're having another party!

 **Yoosung** : We've already started planning for it! We just need a date! ^^

 **500** : Really?

 **707** : 100% Yes!

 **500** : ...Who's coordinating?

 **Yuna** : I am :3

 **Yuna** : I have a lot of time between talking to Zen's directors and finding him new jobs and while I'm travelling

 **Yuna** : so I can handle emails and such~

 **707** : I've already updated her app so that she gets RFA emails straight to her phone on her app.

 **500** : Amazing…!

 **500** : We haven't had a party in years...this is exciting.

 **Yoosung** : Yeah! V needs to decide on a date, though.

 **Yoosung** : What's taking him so long?

 **Yuna** : Maybe he's running from you.

 **Yoosung** : What? Why would he do that?

 **Yuna** : Big scary man Yoosung! Superman Yoosung!

 **Yoosung** : Haha! Thank you u

 **707: Dude, she's messing with you.**

 **500:** You don't have room to talk.

 **Yuna** : Am I? :3c

 **Yoosung** : TAT Are you really?

 **Yuna** : :3c

 **Yuna** : Oh, I have to go. I'm getting a call.

 **707** : Lol totally avoiding the topic.

 **Yuna** : Shush you ;3

 **707** : luv ur kitty faces! u)/

 **Yuna** : ;3 ;3 ;3

 **Yoosung** : Bye!

 **500** : It was nice talking to you again.

 **Yuna** : Don't travel for too long next time! We missed you! Bye everyone!

 **[Yuna has left the chatroom!]**

 **Yoosung** : :)

 **Yoosung** : u Seven…

 **707** : ya?

 **Yoosung** : You and Yuna are so cute lol

 **500** : So obvious.

 **707** : She's cool

 **707** : Unlike Mr. Gamer there.

 **Yoosung** : Yeah, but you always act different around her!

 **707** : Hey bro, do you smell that?

 **500** : ?

 **500** : Oh.

 **Yoosung** : What do you smell?

 **707** : Something stinks.

 **707** : Looks like our maid is here.

 **Yoosung** : Your maid stinks?;;

 **Yoosung** : Wait, you have a maid?

 **500** : Ms. Mary Vanderwood III

 **500** : I don't want to see her.

 **707** : I'll tell you about her next time. We gotta go.

 **707** : ugh

 **Yoosung** : Why do you two have to leave because of your maid?

 **500** : Because she threatens us.

 **Yoosung** : **Huh?!**

 **707:** Gah! She's here!

 **707** : Talk to you later!

"Do you think we could hide before he comes in?" Saeyoung asked as he heard his gate demanding an Arabic sentence from Vanderwood. "Maybe spray him down with air freshener?"

"He'll taser us both." Saeran complained even as he stood and shoved his phone into his pocket. He glanced around for something, but didn't have time to follow through with whatever he was planning before the door opened. Saeyoung scrunched his face up in dislike, annoyed that Vanderwood was able to access the gate so easily. He would have to program in harder questions. Maybe switch the language.

Vanderwood entered the house looking somewhat disgruntled. He ran a hand into his long hair as his eyes scanned the building before landing on the brothers. He huffed a tiny sardonic laugh at the sight of Saeran. "So you _were_ here, Five. That wasn't a difficult leap to make."

Saeran didn't respond, but held eye contact. Saeyoung felt a small part of him swell with pride. Saeran had never been good at hiding his emotions, but he had become much better at it due to the agency. He could never lie to Saeyoung, of course, but it was good to see his brother stronger for it in the long run.

"You were supposed to check in with me." Vanderwood scolded.

"Sorry." Saeran didn't sound the least bit sorry, although there was tension in him. Saeyoung quickly stepped in.

"Missus, please don't walk into someone's house and start scolding them."

Vanderwood shot Saeyoung an unamused glare as Saeyoung smiled cheekily. "Are you trying to make me angry? Also, why aren't you working? Your brother may be done with his mission, but you aren't. Don't make me have to force you."

"I just woke up. I'll get it done. What kind of mission was he doing anyway?"

"None of your business."

"It was some fieldwork." Saeran told Saeyoung quietly before he shifted away from Vanderwood. "Is there any food here? I'll cook something." He fled the room rather quickly for the kitchen. Saeyoung covered his escape.

"Ms. Vanderwood, how can I work when my house is so dirty? It's making me dizzy! Ah! Was that a space cat? Kitty, come back and take me to see the mothership!" Saeyoung waved his hands around. Vanderwood groaned.

"Jeez, why are you such a weird guy?" He grumbled. "Fine, I'll start cleaning. But you need to start work right away or _both_ of our asses will be on the line! You know what they would do to us . . ."

"Yes, I know." Saeyoung responded, sobering up. He didn't need Vanderwood to warn him about anything. The man acted like he would have to take the brunt of the punishment if Saeyoung didn't complete his missions on time and well done, but they both knew that Saeran would be the one on the line. Saeyoung would never risk his brother which made him work harder and faster. It irritated him whenever Vanderwood brought it up. Saeyoung didn't care about risking himself, but he and Saeran were a package deal when it came to the Agency and their boss knew it.

"Good. Then start working. Now where did you put your vacuum?"

* * *

It was hours later that Vanderwood finally left for the evening and the brothers were free. Saeyoung had worked the entire time with the exception of slacking off to chat with the RFA members or to eat some of the food Saeran had cooked. His brother had mostly slept to recover from no-doubt long and sleepless nights. Saeyoung already felt like his skin fit him better knowing that his twin was asleep and safe nearby.

Stressed and exhausted, Saeyoung collapsed onto the bed next to his brother and startled him awake. Saeran snapped to awareness immediately, but didn't throw himself away from Saeyoung like he usually instinctively did. Instead he shoved his brother in the chest and rolled onto his back with a whine at being disturbed which brought a smile to Saeyoung's face.

"Maid's gone." He announced.

"Oh, I slept through the whole visit. Thank God."

"Yep~ Now talk to me. What was your mission?" Saeran still looked tired. Saeyoung could see the darkness under his twin's eyes that had become permanent things over the past couple of years. Sometimes he wondered if he had made the right choice in insisting that Saeran come with him if he was going to join the agency. Maybe Saeran would have been happier if V and Rika had taken care of him.

Saeran was quiet for a few moments not looking his brother in the eye before he responded softly, "It was an infiltration mission. It, um . . . didn't go well. I got trapped there."

"Trapped, or captured?" Saeyoung demanded, stiffening in horror and fear.

"Trapped." Saeran reassured. Saeyoung was not reassured. "I didn't get out in time and had to hide . . . It was scary."

"But you got out!"

"I did, but . . . I was so scared, Saeyoung. It reminded me of when we were with mommy. Um . . . mother . . . sorry."

Saeyoung sat up, hands clenching in the bedsheet. He was angry. He was positive that their boss did this on purpose. Neither Saeyoung nor Saeran were field agents. They were supposed to be more of the support and infiltration. And even then, usually Saeyoung was the one that snuck into the target's places. Saeran was Saeyoung's backup. Their boss was forcing Saeran into roles that weren't his strong suit. They were testing his usefulness to them again.

"Those assholes!" He hissed.

Saeran shook off his quiet fear as he rebuilt his walls again. The method was one that the man had been forced to form considering how much weaker he was. Saeyoung watched it with uncomfortable approval. Saeran was strong too, he knew. "We need to leave." He insisted quietly. He reached forward to grab Saeyoung's elbow and squeezed, face pale and determined. "How much longer, Saeyoung?"

"You can work on it more while I finish this mission. I think we have what we need to take the agency down . . . but we have to wait for the right timing."

"Okay . . ." Saeran took a deep breath and then smiled a bit. "So . . . we're having a party?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I wonder if I should add a bio for Yuna in this considering we may not have time in this story to give her much backstory. Lmk what you think.

* * *

 **Jumin Han:** Hmm.

 **Jumin Han** : I don't like this.

 **Jaehee Kang** : It does seem rather unreasonable…

 **ZEN** : Are we even going to get it ready in time?

 **ZEN** : Yuna, are you alright with this?

 **Yuna** : It's a bit troublesome, but I'm okay!

 **Yuna** : I'll work hard! ;3 It's not like I'm not used to it, after all.

 **You** : Why is V pushing so hard for the party to be so early, though?

 **500** : If we can do it, then we should work hard.

 **Jumin Han** : Luciel is right, though. It is very unlike V to do something like this.

 **You:** Right?

 **Yuna** : Wait

 **Yoosung** : I don't think it's fair at all!

 **Yoosung** : What about Yuna? It's not fair that she's being thrown into this!

 **ZEN** : I have to agree! It's her first time doing something like this!

 **ZEN** : V, why are you putting so much pressure on my cute manager? =A=

 **Yuna** : Wait;;;

 **500** : What's wrong?

 **Yuna** : ;;;;;;;;;;

 **Jaehee Kang** : Is something the matter?

 **Yuna** : ….;;;; Who's, uh

 **Yuna** : Who's Luciel?

 **You** : omg

 **Yoosung** : It's Seven!

 **Yuna: What?!**

 **You** : You didn't even know my name? T-T I'm so hurt!

 **Yuna** : NOBODY TOLD ME!

 **Yuna** : ZEN! TAT

 **ZEN** : I guess it never came up?

 **ZEN** : Hahaha, I never realized how often I called the twins by their nicknames!

 **500** : The twins, he calls us…

 **Yuna** : Fuck my entire asshole, I'm such a dumbass

 **You** : HAHAHAHAHA

 **You** : I JSUT CHKOD ON MY SODA FJD;ALFJA

 **Jaehee Kang** : _Yuna,_ _ **please**_ _do not say that again._

 **Jumin Han** : What an interesting phrase. How vulgar.

 **Yoosung** : Wait, what did she say? Don't leave us out! I can't read English T-T

 **Yuna** : Sorry, I was talking with my American friends recently.

 **ZEN** : What did you say?

 **500** : Something that doesn't bear repeating.

 **Yuna** : I have insulted delicate sensibilities today.

 **Yuna** : Now we're both in the wrong, Zen.

 **ZEN** : I'll make it up to you ;)

 **ZEN** : Let's go on a date later!

 **You** : She owes me a date for not knowing my name after two months lol

 **Yuna** : Tempting offer~

 **ZEN** : Wait, from me or Seven?

 **500** : Does that mean she owes me a date as well?

 **Yuna** : Oh right, what's your name Five?

 **Jumin Han** : It sounds like she does not wish to date you, Zen.

 **ZEN** : Shut up!

 **You** : Double dating the twins ;))))

 **500** : No thank you.

 **500** : Girls don't interest me.

 **ZEN** : Wait, what does that mean?

 **Yoosung** : omg Zen how are you still out of that loop we've known Five for years

 **Jumin Han** : Even I was aware of this.

 **ZEN** : Does that mean he's…

 **You** : ...super okay with letting me have the ladies?

 **You: B**

 **You: I**

 **You: N**

 **You: GO!**

 **Jaehee Kang:** Please just type on one line.

 **Yuna** : I'm okay with all types!

 **Yuna** : But seriously Five, what's your name? I don't feel right now :(

 **500** : It's Yeong-un.

 **Yuna** : Ah! I like that name!

 **Yuna** : Luciel and Yeong-un. :3 Got it!

 **Jaehee Kang:** Although Luciel's name is…

 **Jumin Han:** I feel as if we have all become very distracted.

 **Jumin Han:** I am not finished discussing the party.

 **Yoosung** : Right!

 **Jaehee Kang** : Then shall I bring us back to the topic?

 **Jaehee Kang** : It is unusual for V to throw this party suddenly upon us. Yuna, are you sure that you're prepared?

 **ZEN** : Especially since you're so busy with me.

 **You** : Jeeeeez Zen, let the woman off the chain occasionally!

 **Yuna** : He keeps me locked in the basement of his house.

 **You** : Only giving you enough internet access to get him jobs…

 **Yuna** : Feeding me only beer and bread…

 **ZEN** : I do not!

 **ZEN** : Although it's true that I only have bread and beer right now…

 **Yuna** : lololol That's why I said it.

 **Yoosung** : lol

 **Jaehee Kang** : Zen, that's really not healthy.

 **ZEN** : I know, I know. OTL I'm trying to get better about it.

 **ZEN** : I want to show Yuna that I'm a man that can take care of himself and his girl!

 **Yuna** : It's a work in progress, but keep up the good work! ;3

 **You** : SHOT DOWN

 **ZEN** : Shut up, Seven.

 **You** : Get the tiny violin, Yeong-un!

 **500** : Hold on while I find it.

 **Yuna** : lolololol

 **Yoosung** : So mean! Lol

 **Jaehee Kang** : ;;;

 **ZEN** : I hate you both TAT

 **Yuna** : Jumin? Are you alright?

 **Jumin Han** : I was enjoying the show.

 **You** : LOL

 **Yuna** : Absolutely brutal.

 **ZEN** : Why don't you just leave again, you bastard?!

 **Yuna** : Back on track again, I already have some people in mind. I have plenty of connections due to my job.

 **ZEN** : Which is why I was so happy you wanted to manage me.

 **Yuna** : You're a beautiful up-and-coming star. Of course I would want you.

 **You** : Omai ;3

 **Yuna** : 3

 **ZEN** : I've never received such high praise!

 **Yuna** : But of course I want you guys to offer guests too. I'm only winging it based on the stories ZEN has told me of past parties.

 **Jaehee Kang** : I have some ideas.

 **Jumin Han** : I do as well.

 **Yuna** : Please feel free to let me know!

 **500** : I will have to start looking again before I get another job.

 **Yoosung** : Are you switching jobs, Five?

 **500** : Unfortunately I am a slave and cannot escape that easily.

 **You** : tru

 **Yuna** : Lol what the hell is this email?

 **Yoosung** : ?

 **ZEN** : That's honestly pretty creepy.

 **Yuna** : Hang on, I'll send it here to the chat.

 **[Yuna has sent a picture!]**

 **Jaehee Kang** : What is this?

 **Yuna** : Some spam mail from this person called 'Mint Eye'.

 **Yoosung** : It's kind of unnerving!

 **Jumin Han:** Just delete it.

 **Yuna** : Maybe it's a potential guest? ;3c

 **Jumin Han** : I am starting to question your ability to choose guests.

 **500** : It looks disturbing.

 **You** : hey yuna, send that to me.

 **You** : there may be a virus on it or something.

 **Yuna** : It looks like a cult or a group. Maybe an acting group?

 **Yuna** : Maybe I can get you a new job, Zen?

 **Yuna** : Oh, I have a phone call. I'll be right back.

 **[Yuna has left the chatroom!]**

 **ZEN** : Oh no;;;

 **Jaehee Kang** : Is it normal for her to find you jobs through such...Questionable sources?

 **You** : ya;;;

 **ZEN** : Yes;;

 **ZEN** : 9/10 times it works out, though…

 **Yoosung :** What about the other 1/10?

 **ZEN** : Not fun experiences.

 **ZEN** : She has a habit of going to weird places and somehow coming back with contacts or new possible leads...Something to help both of us.

 **500** : Strange and useful.

 **ZEN** : Exactly!

 **ZEN** : She's wonderful 3

 **You** : lol sounds like it

 **You** : But I don't feel good about this one… :I

 **Jaehee Kang** : I agree. It sounds suspicious.

 **Yoosung :** Definitely like a cult!

 **Jumin Han** : Hm.

 **Jumin Han** : If her business expenditures have worked in the past, then perhaps this will too?

 **ZEN** : Are you seriously considering letting her contact people from spam mail?

 **Jumin Han** : Not for the party, however for your career it may be useful.

 **ZEN** : You're just trying to sabotage me =A=

 **Jumin Han** : Not at all.

 **Jaehee Kang** : Mr. Han, there must be a limit, though.

 **500** : Spam mail is spam for a reason.

 **500** : Luciel, perhaps we should get a hold of the email itself?

 **You** : I was planning to anyway.

 **You** : Surprised u wanna though. Got a bad feeling too?

 **500** : Yes…

 **Yoosung** : Twin telepathy!

 **You** : He's right! We must pounce on our instincts!

 **Jumin Han** : Is that even real?

 **You** : Of course it is!

 **You** : Yeong-un, what am I thinking right now? :D

 **500** : How you want to track the IP address of the Mint Eye sender to make sure that they're not dangerous before Yuna makes the decision to contact them.

 **Jaehee Kang** : !

 **You** : holy shit you were too honest;;;

 **500** : Oh...Sorry.

 **Yoosung** : Then he was right? It really is telepathy;

 **Jumin Han** : Interesting. I wonder if this would fall under dark magic? I will have to consult the book I'm reading.

 **Yoosung :** omg

 **ZEN** : Either way, I agree Seven! Do that if you can.

 **ZEN** : To protect both of us;;

 **You** : There goes my date with Yuna.

 **You** : Looks like I have another lovely date with my computer 3

 **ZEN** : You weren't getting a date from her to begin with.

 **You** : I didn't hear a no from her~

 **You** : Just something about fucking her entire asshole

 **Jaehee Kang** : LUCIEL!

 **Jumin Han** : I do not want to stay around for this. I have work I need to do.

 **[Jumin Han has left the chatroom!]**

 **ZEN** : What the hell did he say?

 **You** : LOLOLOLOL HER WORDS NOT MINE

 **Jaehee Kang** : I am leaving too.

 **[Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom!]**

 **Yoosung** : This isn't fair. I need to get better at English TAT

 **500** : You drove two people out, brother.

 **You** : Yuna will crack up when she sees this.

 **ZEN** : She won't be back for a while. I can see her in manager mode outside.

 **Yoosung** : She's at your house?

 **ZEN** : Yes ;) We're secretly dating.

 **You** : Then she's secretly cheating on you with me.

 **ZEN** : You flirting at her isn't cheating from her.

 **Yoosung** : It's not cheating at all because she's not dating either of you -_-;

 **500** : Neither of you are subtle.

 **You** : I'm just kidding anyway~~

 **You** : I can't date lol

 **You** : **I can't ever date.**

 **Yoosung** : What? Why?

 **You** : Maybe I'll tell you when you're an adult~

 **Yoosung :** You're only a year older than me!

 **500** : Luciel, I can see Ms. Vanderwood's car pulling up.

 **You** : GAH! I gotta go!

 **ZEN** : Wait, you haven't explained why you can't date or if you're gonna track the email!

 **You** : Later! I have to catch up on work ;; Bye!

 **[707 has left the chatroom!]**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yuna** : You...want me to go to Rika's apartment?

 **V** : Yes.

 **Yuna** : Is that really alright?

 **You** : Yeah V, isn't that…;;;

 **You** : It's supposed to be a secret.

 **Yuna** : A secret?

 **V** : Luciel is right.

 **V** : I understand that it's odd, but all of the information you need to help us get ready to the party is in that apartment.

 **V** : Like Luciel said, though, the location of the apartment is a secret. I ask that you keep it a secret, please.

 **Yuna** : I understand! I won't say anything about it.

 **500** : V…

 **V** : Yes?

 **500** : Are you...sure about this?

 **500** : I don't doubt Yuna...but you're entrusting this secret to the newest member of the RFA…

 **V** : It must sound quite strange to you two considering how much we have insisted on keeping the location a secret.

 **V** : However I don't see much of a way around it. Neither of you are able to do the job that Yuna has been given.

 **Yuna** : I'm happy to be trusted!

 **You** : Well, if V says it's alright...then let's do it!

 **V:** Thank you. I leave it to either you or Yeong-un to take her to the apartment for me.

 **V** : I have to go now. I'm going to lose signal soon.

 **You** : V, when will we hear from you again? You barely pick up when I call anymore!

 **V** : Sorry, I just don't have the signal. I'll call again when I do.

 **V** : Good night!

 **Yuna** : Be safe, V!

 **You** : Bye!

 **500** : Goodbye.

 **[V has left the chatroom!]**

 **Yuna** : So u

 **Yuna** : I get to meet one of you two soon? ;3c

 **You** : lol looking forward to it?

 **Yuna** : You know it! I haven't really met anybody in the RFA in person!

 **Yuna** : Everyone is so busy...but I've talked with you all so much on here that I feel like I'm friends with everyone!

 **You** : Imagine it!

 **You** : You, standing there. When suddenly-!

 **Yuna** : An alien spaceship appears!

 **You** : And a beam of lights erupts from the bottom, lowering down a handsome man!

 **Yuna** : And I am shocked to see-?!

 **500** : Luciel…

 **You** : Me?! You think I should go?

 **Yuna** : lolol

 **500** : I'm not saying no, but...We should discuss this.

 **500** : Yuna, I'm going to leave now. Sorry it's so sudden :(

 **Yuna** : I don't mind!

 **Yuna** : But...is something wrong?

 **You** : Well its just weird that V is willing to let someone into the apartment

 **500** : Yeah

 **Yuna** : Ohhh, I get it.

 **Yuna** : Then you're both leaving? Bye! Try not to be too stressed by work today!

 **500** : You too :)

 **You** : We'll leave now! BABABAM!

 **[500 has left the chatroom!]**

Saeyoung rolled his head as he exited out of the chatroom as well, his mind turning over the new information even as it threatened to be overwhelmed with his own nervous excitement. One of them had to escort Yuna to the apartment. Which meant one of them would get to meet her in person for the first time. The only one who had met Yuna face-to-face was Zen, but that was considering she was his manager. Nobody else had had time to meet their newest member of the group yet. There had been talk about using the RFA party coming up to be the official party for Yuna as well. How would Yuna look if they told her that? Knowing her she would probably have an idea already. She was too quick about these things.

"Saeyoung." Saeran called quietly, and Saeyoung tore himself from his ponderings. The other man held him somewhat reservedly as he gripped his arm in a telltale nervous habit. Saeran only exposed himself like that around people he trusted. Sometimes he was just so easy to read. Saeyoung only motioned his brother over to the couch Saeyoung was already sitting on and scooted over for him. Saeran took the seat without hesitation but still held that air of scepticism about him that Saeyoung had sensed through the chatroom.

"It should be fine, isn't it?" Saeyoung asked in response to the question Saeran didn't ask. "V always knows what he's doing. He's just showing that Yuna can be trusted, right?"

Saeran shot him a look that showed just how much he believed Saeyoung. Saeyoung sent him a sheepish grin. He had been trying to convince himself too, after all. "It's too sudden." Saeran murmured, dropping his gaze to his lap as he picked idly at his cuticles. The skin there looked irritated and dry. He really needed to stop, but Saeyoung chewed his nails so he wasn't really one to talk. "V has always been strict about who knows . . . it's for the safety of the RFA."

"Yeah, but V wouldn't decide this without a reason. And it's just so we can set up this party." Saeyoung paused and sighed, running a hand into his hair. "Speaking of which, what's up with that early date? It's ridiculous."

"It does seem unreasonable." Saeran agreed. The party was to be held in about a week which meant they all had barely any time to get stuff together. Jaehee would no doubt be the most troubled considering Jumin would be ordering her around. Saeyoung would help out with the preparations, but he had too much work to do. He still had to finish the job he currently had, and right now he was slacking to chat with friends. "Now we have to find guests."

"Ooh! I'll invite Longcat!" Saeyoung cried, sitting up. "Wouldn't that be so fun? Oh man, I gotta remember to mention it when I get on the chatroom next! Yuna would love the idea!"

"Zen may kill you."

Saeyoung waved him off. "He'll love Longcat too!" He purposely ignored Saeran's doubtful face. Saeyoung instead grinned just thinking about it. It would be hilarious if Yuna actually agreed to it, but he was absolutely going to bring up the cat as a potential guest. He already had some other guests in mind. He didn't consider any of them as being particularly weird.

Saeran had long since gotten past Saeyoung's playful eccentricities. Saeyoung knew the other man had some of that in him as well. It was a playful childishness that neither of them had gotten to express during their childhoods. It was okay to come out like this, Saeyoung personally thought. So Saeran moved on, frowning as he clasped his hands together. "V wants one of us to take Yuna to the apartment . . . and you want to go, right?"

Saeyoung did want to go. The thought of meeting Yuna was enough to send his pulse racing and jitters running through his limbs. He had only seen the woman through a computer screen and the the few times he had heard her had been through a phone line. Zen liked to brag about his manager all of the time and at this point it was enough to drive Saeyoung insane. It was almost as bad as all of the selfies Zen took. On the one hand he got to hear interesting stories about Yuna. On the other hand, however, it only felt like it was being rubbed in his face about the fact that he would never get to meet Yuna. Not outside of a party, anyway. He couldn't risk her.

"I get it." He huffed a laugh, pushing down the bitterness to replace with a smile. "You can go in my place if it worries you so much."

Saeran shook his head, visibly working against the instinctive cringe at the sight of Saeyoung's hidden upset. "It's not that I'm worried . . . I don't dislike Yuna, after all." He paused, searching for his words. "I'm . . ." He sighed. "You're in love with her."

Saeyoung immediately protested, "Where would you get such an idea? It's just a _crush_ , dude!"

Saeran eyed his brother, but didn't deign to give him a response. Saeyoung felt ridiculous for even trying to protest. It didn't matter what age they were; Saeran could always see through Saeyoung's lies. It was a bad habit to keep them up. Maybe it was more of a matter of him trying to lie to himself. It would explain why Saeran didn't say anything.

Saeyoung took a quick breath before letting it out in a rush. "It doesn't matter. You know as well as I do that I won't be initiating anything. I can't. Neither of us can be with the people we want to."

"I know." Saeran agreed quietly. "Which is why I want to know if you want me to meet Yuna instead."

"I can handle it. Don't worry about that." Saeyoung may not be able to hide his feelings towards Saeran, but he could do it for anybody else. He wouldn't be acting on them anyway, but Saeran made a good point. He scratched the back of his head but was firmly decided. Yuna was his friend, and his curiosity for her wouldn't be sated until he had met her in person. He would only be jealous if Saeran was the one who got to meet her first.

"What about work, though?" He asked, suddenly remembering. "The boss will kick my ass if he finds out I've left. Especially considering how long it's taking me to do this one."

Saeran gave Saeyoung a dead look, clearly unamused. Saeyoung _barely_ resisted grinning at being caught. "Just ask me instead of playing."

"Oh lovely brother of mine, will you pretend to be me again~?" Saeyoung sang as he threw his arms around Saeran's shoulders. "I'll make it up to you~"

Saeran groaned and sighed. "Fine. Catch me up on what I need to do. And make sure you bring me back the good ice cream and cookies."

"Only the best for you!"


	4. Chapter 4

He really shouldn't have this funny feeling in his stomach. He was just going to meet Yuna! It was nothing major! Maybe he'd had too much junk food before he had made the drive. Maybe walking so fast with that amount of soda and chips in his stomach had upset it? He didn't know for sure. All he knew was that his stomach was acting funny and he was about to meet Yuna in person. Every time he thought about it it would make his stomach flip again and again.

Despite the nervous energy that was contained within his caffeinated body Saeyoung was careful in making sure to park his car far away from the apartment and instead walk there. He had the cameras for the area memorized and he avoided all of them. His red hair already stood out enough among the crowd so he really didn't need any cameras picking him up. He took his time strolling half because he didn't want to arrive too early and half because he really needed to burn off this extra energy before he exploded.

He texted Saeran instead wondering if Vanderwood had already invaded the underground household or not. He would call, but he didn't want to risk giving his brother away. They had different ringtones for their similar phones. Right at that moment, Saeyoung wasn't "707". Saeran was posing as him. Quite dangerous for them to pull off, but the twins did it more often than anyone ever thought. Vanderwood seemed to think that he knew the difference between them, but with their clothes switched and their hairstyles mussed even their handler couldn't tell the two apart.

Saeyoung rubbed his fingers over his phone in an effort to wipe off his fingerprints, but only ended up smearing the oil further. He frowned. In actuality there was a way to tell the twins apart now. Scars on their bodies separated them. They didn't share the same damage they had received from various missions. As long as Vanderwood didn't see their bodies, they were fine.

Saeran confirmed that Vanderwood had indeed arrived. He also said he felt silly acting all loopy in front of the other man. That made Saeyoung smile. His brother always complained about acting silly, but Saeran needed a chance to be silly once in a while. Drinking the PhD Pepper no doubt helped. Saeyoung thought it was hilarious to act as annoying as possible (without being physically harmed) towards Vanderwood. He didn't particular like nor dislike his handler. At least the other man said nothing about the RFA. It was a secret that he and Saeran were part of it. Vanderwood was someone they trusted tentatively. Maybe when they took down the agency, Vanderwood would side with them. Saeyoung would consider it.

He spotted her curly dark hair before anything else. Yuna stood at the designated bus stop with her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels. She was dressed up nicely today -nicer than her casual pictures usually showed her dressing. A break in a well-worn pattern. It made Saeyoung's heart speed up even more at the implication that he refused to let surface in his mind. Yuna's darker skin also stood out among the general populace around her. She was an easy target. He doubted she had even noticed him. He approached her casually trying to hide his own excitement.

Her eyes landed on him soon after and a broad smile overtook her face. She was more stunning in person, he decided before he could filter his thoughts. Her eyes were striking with how light they were considering he knew how neither of her parents had the same light teal eyes. Recessive traits were astounding and they were even more so on her.

"Luciel!" She called, happily shouldering the duffel bag she was carrying with her as she half-skipped over to him. It made the playfulness inside of him well up wanting to reciprocate. She was so happy to see him. He was never greeted by anyone like that. Especially not upon first meeting. "It's so great to finally meet you!"

He loved her accent. She wasn't born in Korea although she had moved to Korea when she was a teenager. He knew her entire legal history and she didn't even seem fazed when he had told her other than a little surprised. She was more curious than anything to find out what all he knew. He could see the American blood in her mouth and hands and hair. He wanted to sit and listen to her talk all day. He wanted to speak English with her and see what kind of things she said differently than what he had learned (Vanderwood being English himself had taught the twins "proper" English).

He needed to stop obsessing over these little details about her, but it was just amazing to meet her in person.

 _Resist, resist, resist!_

"Sorry," he heightened his voice and smiled, pulling off the facial motions needed to be amused, reserved, and regretful at the same time, "but you have the wrong twin."

Yuna blinked in confusion before understanding quickly shined through. "Yeong-un?" Saeyoung nodded in affirmation. Although she attempted to hide it -and she did it fairly well- Saeyoung's heart lept to see disappointment in her face. She really had wanted to see him? "Oh. Well, hi! You surprised me. I thought Luciel was supposed to come?"

"He was, but work caught up to him. He hasn't been focusing on it." He couldn't resist and asked ruefully, "Are you disappointed?"

"I wanted to meet you too." She responded. That wasn't a denial. She was pretty smooth, wasn't she? Saeyoung motioned for her to follow him. He would take her along the routes that no cameras would see even if it was a bit of a roundabout direction.

"Sorry for disappointing you."

"You didn't!" She lied. "So where is the apartment? I already have my stuff for temporary living!" They walked together and chatted idly about the "rules" of the household. He reminded her that she couldn't tell anyone the location of the apartment. How she wasn't supposed to open any drawers and such. About the code needed to enter the apartment and how the utilities have already been turned on.

She watched him closely. Saeyoung watched her as well, stuck on how he was unable to tear his eyes from her. His palms were sweating and he felt like he was being completely obvious. Having crushes on people were ridiculous. His brain wasn't wired to process and have such emotions. He would have to work harder to get rid of it. He had to shut it down before it messed with anymore of his functions. He shouldn't be having any such feelings.

The apartment was high up off of the ground and took effort to get to. There were no neighbors nearby (just in case) and the apartment itself is supposedly soundproof. V had installed bulletproof glass when Rika had requested a security system after a break-in. Saeyoung wouldn't have to worry about Yuna staying at the place, even if a part of him wasn't completely comfortable leaving her protected by a bomb. Should he tell her that? No, it would be better not to ruin a good thing. It would needlessly worry her.

"Are you going to be living here while preparing for the party?" He asked as the two of them took a seat on the single couch in the living room. Down the hall was a bedroom with some sheets and blankets and pillows that had been untouched for a long while now. The kitchen wasn't stocked, but V had wired Saeyoung some money to give to Yuna so that she could buy food if she was going to be staying there. The place should be comfortable enough for a person to live in even though Rika didn't stay there very often while she had been alive. It had been mostly a workspace and storage area for her.

"I might as well." Yuna confessed, gazing around her. The apartment was slightly cramped, but spread out enough so it didn't feel too small. "It's only for a couple of days. And this place is actually closer to Zen's house than I had thought. It makes it a little easier to travel there."

Something twisted in Saeyoung's chest. It must be the food he's been eating. His head hurt some. "That's good." He said maintaining his brother's higher-pitched and softer voice. "I'm glad it's easier for you."

"It's a shame Luciel had to work so much." Yuna blurted out randomly, not looking at Saeyoung. He hummed. She turned to him with a sparkle in her eye that made his breath catch a little in his chest. "Too bad you and him couldn't have just . . . dressed up as each other. And sneak over here pretending to be the other."

How did she know?! How was it possible? Nobody could tell the difference between them! She was bluffing!

Saeyoung kept better control than anyone would think. He didn't let her words phase her even as he mentally tried to scramble and figure out what could've possibly given him away. "That wouldn't be fair." He deadpanned, shaking his head a little with a sigh. "It's Luciel's work, not mine."

"That's true. But Luciel's a bully who would do it."

"What!" Saeyoung cried in offense before he could help it. Yuna burst out laughing, throwing her head back in a full chortle that Saeyoung had only ever heard once over the phone. He only gaped at her as she tried to bite back her giggles, gazing at him with humored teal eyes. They were even brighter when she laughed. How was that possible?

"I'm kidding. You're not _too_ much of a bully, Luciel."

Saeyoung dropped the act seeing as he had been caught. He pouted a bit instead. "How did you figure me out?"

"That's a se-cr-et~" Yuna sing-songed. Then with a grin she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Saeyoung felt his body stiffen and his eyes widen shocked by the physical affection. Nobody hugged him if they could help it. This was . . . this situation . . . ! A man and a woman alone in a soundproof apartment . . . Nobody to bother them . . . !

RED ALERT RED ALERT!

Sirens were going off in his head.

"It's so great to meet you finally, Luciel!" She pulled back and then blinked once in surprise. Saeyoung's face felt like it was burning. He must be getting sick. First all of these weird feelings in his chest and stomach and now a fever? He should try to get some more sleep tonight. Yuna opened her mouth to say something more and then visibly stopped herself. Her smile softened into something more teasing, "I really did think you were Yeong-un. But you gave yourself away when you reacted like that."

"I can't believe you think I bully my brother. I'm not that big of a bully!" Saeyoung was teasing you back now. "I only bully Yoosung."

"And Zen. And Jumin. And Jaehee." She added.

"And you." He finished.

She scoffed. "As if I would let you bully me." She gave him a playful shove. So that was how it was. She was a physical person. He didn't know how he felt about that, but he wanted to learn more. The grin on his face only widened.

"It's not about letting me~" He leaned forward towards her. "That's why it's bullying."

He could easily see her pupils dilating as she followed him and leaned forward towards him as well. His breathing was picking up. He could recognize signs when he saw them. "What if I did let you? What would you call it then?"

His skin was on fire. His muscles ached in his restraint not to lean forward more. He saw her gaze dart to his lips. His pulse was thick with the blood rushing through his veins. He felt like he was on an intense mission. He could almost feel her cheek in his hand. He wanted to brush her hair back from her face. He wondered what it felt like. This close he could smell the perfume he had seen on her online records that she had purchased often.

"I-" He couldn't get words to form. What was this sensation? This draw? This heat? Why was the heater on in the apartment? It's too warm outside for it to be on. Or was the A/C not turned on? Maybe he should turn them on.

"Yes?" She prompted, the flirtatious (No! Not flirtatious! Shut up brain!) the _playful_ tone in her voice becoming even breathier. She was closer now. This had gotten out of control very quickly.

 _ABORT ABORT ABORT_

But he _really_ didn't want to.

His phone rang in his pocket then, startling both of them. They jumped some at the noise as the spell between them shattered. Saeyoung felt a shiver rush down his neck and spine at the how close they had been as he hopped up off of the couch. His pant leg burned from where her thigh had been touching his. The atmosphere had been intoxicating. Dangerous! She was dangerous!

"I would call you a masochist!" He joked quickly as he pulled his phone out. He recognized Saeran's ringtone for what it was. It was automatic for him to answer it no matter what he was doing at the time. The brothers never ignored each other's calls.

"Rude!" Yuna protested with a laugh, although whether it was to what he had said or the interruption from the phone he didn't know. He picked up the call with his breath heavy in his chest.

"Heeeeeeeeeeello?"

"Saeyoung," Saeran murmured into the phone. He must be in the bathroom. Saeyoung could hear a vacuum cleaner going in the background, "you need to be careful."

"Careful?" He asked, confused. Yuna climbed from her seat to approach, a concerned frown on her face.

"Yes. You're lucky I saved you." He hesitated but didn't continue right away. Saeyoung was confused. What was he talking about -wait. Oh no.

His eyes flicked over to the CCTV camera. They were in view for the hallway camera. Oh God, Saeran had seen everything. Saeyoung flushed again and pressed his fist to his forehead. God, he was such an idiot!

"Is everything okay?" Yuna asked.

"It's fine." He assured her, turning his back on her so she couldn't see how mortified he was.

"Sorry . . ." Saeran said quietly on the phone, "I just thought you would've preferred me interrupting . . . because of, well, you know."

"No, no. You're right. God . . . Thanks. Thanks for reminding me." He couldn't have relationships. He couldn't let this be something he became addicted to. This was a luxury for him. He couldn't get close to Yuna. He needed to keep his distance for her sake. For Saeran's safety. For the RFA's safety. He couldn't get involved with her. That had been a close one.

He could practically feel Saeran wanting to say something, but changing his mind and instead saying, "It's better for everyone." Even coming from Saeran it felt like a bitter truth. Saeyoung hated it.

"I know." He murmured.

"Be careful." Saeran only briefly said good bye before hanging up. Saeyoung dropped his phone back into his pocket as Yuna leaned around him, her hand pressing to his forearm. He reluctantly pulled away from her. Keep your distance, Saeyoung.

"Was it work?" She asked, not commenting on how he had moved from her.

"No, uh, yeah, uh." Saeyoung shook his head to clear it of the dark thoughts threatening him. Dammit, he knew this before he had come to see her! Get it together! "It was just Yeong-un. I have to head back so I can finish my work." He plastered a smile on his face. "You're all set here then?"

Yuna didn't bother to hide her disappointment this time. "You really can't stay? I wanted to hang out with you more . . ."

Then it would feel like a date to him. "Sorry, but I really have to go! He'll get mad if I slack anymore. You were right on target about making him work for me." He winked cheekily at her as he fell back into the familiar role of 707. Playful Seven. Distant Seven. The friend everyone barely saw but got to chat with in the chatroom. Safe Seven.

"Okay." She smiled, but Saeyoung could see the disappointment lingering. He didn't like it. He wanted to stay and make it up to her. Maybe he could chat with her on the ride home? Meeting her in person was completely different from talking to her on the phone. Seeing just her pictures wouldn't be enough for him anymore.

He would have to learn to live without her. For her sake.

"So! Just know you can call or message me! I won't always answer, but there's always a chance that I will! And of course we'll talk on the messenger as well." He walked backwards towards the door. She followed after him and opened the door for him. He thanked her as he stepped outside. "Oh! One final thing! There's a camera in the hallway!"

"A camera? For recording?" She asked.

"Soooort of." He chuckled a bit. "It's a security camera. I can keep track of you from it~"

"Ooh~ Creeper! Stalker!" She poked his stomach. He jumped. He still didn't know if he liked this, but it made him laugh.

"It's in the hallway, so I can't see any private areas. Make sure to wave to the camera from time to time! Maybe if you're lucky I'll be watching and you can feel me wave back!"

"That sounds fun!"

"Right~?"

There was a lull. Expert Playboy would tell him to lean in and kiss her. Back her against the doorframe and press himself to her. Stimulate the heat in her and drive her wild. Show her his animal side. Romantic movies that Saeyoung had watched often showed that this would be the time to kiss her goodbye. Leave her craving him more. Leave himself craving her more like she was sugar and he was PhD Pepper that needed its final ingredient.

But Saeyoung did neither. Instead he gave her a short wave and tried not to flee down the hallway.

He needed to distance himself from this feeling. He couldn't meet her anymore. Not if it caused him to feel so sick like this. Saeran was right about him needing to be more careful. It was dangerous.

He was dangerous.

She was too perfect for him to ruin with his taint.

She would have to keep smiling. Even though it would not be directed at him. He would watch her from the shadows.

She could be so happy. She would be without Saeyoung.

"I have Saeran." He whispered to himself despite his thick throat and the heavy feeling in his stomach. "That's all I need."

Her laugh rang in his mind and his fists clenched.

He wished that he was less greedy.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Random Saeran POV!

* * *

Saeran was no longer a kid. Between the abuse his mother had put him through, the horrid training that the agency had forced upon his weak body, and the shitty missions that he was forced to do at the threat of his life, Saeran had become an adult. Not the one he had expected to be, but an adult nonetheless. And Saeran knew he had become an adult when he began to understand sacrificing happiness for a greater purpose.

He just didn't like that the sacrifice had to be made.

Saeyoung was obvious to Saeran. The brothers had always been able to read each other. At times of more intense emotional feelings the brothers could even feel each other's emotions. So Saeran had been able to tell when Saeyoung's feelings for Yuna had extended into the "dangerous" territory of being legitimate feelings rather than any passing attraction. Saeyoung had fallen fast and hard, startling both of them with the intensity of his attraction to her. But then again, Saeyoung had always been the more passionate one of them. In retrospect Saeran should've expected it at some point.

It was just . . . sad. If they were normal people, Saeran would encourage the relationship. Possibly tease Saeyoung back as a bit of revenge for how he had mercilessly teased Saeran when Saeran's own crush formed. However neither of them were normal. They were agents with dangerous lives. Lives that threatened anybody they held dear. Already just by having a brother working with him they had metaphorical knives against their throats. Everyday the brothers lived and worked for the agency was a risk to their lives either by death on a mission or the agency wanting to get rid of them for one stupid reason or another. Saeran can't count the number of times Saeyoung's teasing of some of the other agents had nearly gotten Saeran killed.

They had gone from the frying pan into the fire when they had left their mother. At least they had more freedom here.

But because they were so dangerous they weren't allowed to form feelings for anybody. They were bodies meant to be used and that was it. The RFA was a luxury for both of them, especially now that they had people they lov- _cared_ for that were in it. That only made everything all the worse.

Saeran had been first. It was unexpected and unwelcomed, those feelings that developed. He had still been basking the in rarity of having a friend that wasn't his brother when suddenly he realized the depth of his own emotions. It had terrified him as he rejected the very possibility. His heart would flutter and swoon for Yoosung, much to his own horror. He knew the risks. He _knew_ what the agency would do if they found out. So he had hidden it.

Saeyoung had picked up on it quickly. He had warned his brother against embracing the feelings. Cutting them off while he could. It wasn't that easy, though. Saeyoung didn't understand. Saeyoung hadn't felt such things for another person. It wasn't something either of them had known how to handle. They hadn't been able to have any kind of person to talk to about these things. Even V was emotionally unavailable for such things. They were too scared to mention it to him even if they both looked up to him like a father figure.

Now the situation was reversed. Saeyoung had caught The Feelings and now they were both utterly fucked. It was up to Saeran to remind Saeyoung exactly what Saeyoung had told him: Be careful. If you like them, you have to protect them. We're not safe. We won't be safe. We can never be with them.

It sucked. Saeran hated it. He hated himself for having to remind Saeyoung of those bitter words that made Saeran sick whenever he thought about them. Whenever he craved to hang out with Yoosung. To see if he even had a _chance_ with the other man. When Saeyoung had first come home after meeting Yuna and had said nothing but had thrown himself into his work. When Saeyoung would now stare longingly at the CCTV watching Yuna just walk around or sit on the couch messaging someone.

It was a world neither of them could have. The RFA chatroom was a window to a world separate but tantalizingly close to their own. Saeran and Saeyoung lived in their own little world. Inside of their houses and in front of a computer screen. One unpleasant and sick with the realities of how unfair and cruel world was. It would always be like that for them.

At least until they could succeed in their plan. The plan to take down their agency from the inside. To expose it and escape from it without being killed or injured. They may have to abandon their lives and flee the country for a while. They didn't know what would happen. So they continued to bide their time. Right now things were fine. They were well enough that they could still build up their damning evidence. Procure safety nets for themselves. Flesh out their plans.

It would help if both of them weren't reluctant to change their lives, though. They could escape the agency, but it would most likely be at the cost of their current lives in the RFA. They would have to move. Change identities again. Disappear without a trace and live out the rest of their lives together like they had dreamt of when they were children. It was hard. It was so hard, and Saeyoung now having feelings for Yuna made it worse.

Saeran could deal with his own heart being broken. He couldn't allow Saeyoung's to be too.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** It's been a long while since I've updated this. Sorry about that!

I've decided that I really like the idea of Saeran actually calling Saeyoung Hyung. I understand the others would have different ways to call each other too, but I'll leave to just the brothers for now.  
It was so cute to realize that Saeran called his brother Hyung even in the game. Even when he was Unknown.

I can't really go back here on ff to change all of it. Sorry!

Other news is that I've actually got a plot planned in my head for more of this story. I'm considering having the pov change once in a while to Yuna, but please let me know what you think about that. I don't want it to be too jarring.

Then again, maybe I won't. I'll think on it.

Also I really wish I could add the RFA emojis.

* * *

 **Yoosung** **:** So what was it like meeting Seven, Yuna?

 **Yuna** : Fun! Seven's cute and funny just like I expected. :3

 **Yuna** : Though he pretended to be Five at first.

 **You** : ?!

 **You** : Cute?

 **Yuna** : Yes, cute. ;3

 **You** : A compliment!

 **500** : …

 **Yuna** : What's with the emoji, Five? Jealous? ;3c

 **500** : No.

 **Yuna** : You're cute too!

 **500** : Thank you.

 **Yoosung** **:** Yeah, Five is cute!

 **You** : Lolololol Yeong-un, your face is as red as your hair!

 **500** : ...Shut up.

 **Yoosung** **:** At least Five doesn't bully me T-T

 **Yoosung** **:** That's why I like him better.

 **Yoosung** **:** Oh! Yuna, what is Rika's apartment like?

 **You** : She can't tell you where it is, dude.

 **Yoosung** **:** I know that! Even if I think it's unfair…

 **Yuna** : It's okay. I can't really touch much in here, so it's a little suffocating.

 **Yuna** : But since I have to go out a lot to help Zen, it's fine.

 **Yuna** : Not being able to touch anything just makes me more curious, though…

 **You** : Don't do it lol

 **You** : You'll set off the bomb.

 **Yoosung** **:** Bomb?!

 **500** : She'll set off an alarm first.

 **Yuna** : That just makes it _more_ tempting. Would I hear the alarm?

 **You** : omg yuna don't open the drawers.

 **500: Seriously, don't do it. :(**

 **Yuna** : I'm kidding. I'm not going to risk setting off the security system.

 **Yoosung** **:** Is there really a bomb there? ;n;

 **You** : Yuna IS da bomb

 **Yuna** : OH YEAH

 **You** : BA BA BA BAM!

 **Yuna** : That actually reminds me

 **Yuna** : R-E-C-O-M-M-E-N-D-A-T-I-O-N-S plz~

 **Yoosung** **:** Lol she's really on it

 **500** : It's good to see that ^^

 **Yoosung** **:** I actually do have someone I can recommend!

 **500** : Oh...Yoosung wait

 **500** : Before you start…

 **500** : Hyung, we have to leave.

 **You** : What?

 **You** : Oh.

 **Yuna** : Really? Already? :(

 **Yuna** : You weren't even here that long…

 **500** : Sorry, Yuna.

 **You** : Yeah, he's right, we g2g.

 **You** : Work is calling.

 **Yuna** : You're always working. Tell them you're busy with us~

 **You** : lol wish I could can u imagine?

 **500** : That wouldn't end well.

 **Yoosung** **:** They're pretty strict, aren't they?

 **Yoosung** **:** After all, you're hackers.

 **500** : That's part of it…

 **500** : Anyway, I'll take my leave first.

 **500** : We probably won't be back for a couple of days.

 **Yoosung** **:** A couple of days? But you just got back!

 **500** : I know…

 **You** : We're slaves;; what can we do?

 **500** : Good night Yuna...Yoosung…

 **Yuna** : Bye!

 **Yoosung** **:** Be safe!

 **[500 has left the chatroom!]**

 **You** : I don't wanna goooooooo

 **Yuna** : T-T Don't go…

 **You** : I'm being abducted!

 **You** : Can't...stay…!

 **Yuna** : NO! THE ALIENS GOT HIM!

 **You** : fhjdal;sjfsdakakkakiis

 **Yuna** : RIP, God Seven T-T

 **[You have left the chatroom!]**

* * *

Saeyoung groaned loudly as he rolled off of his bed and to his feet. Saeran had already exited the bedroom to go get his contact lenses to wear instead. Neither brother wanted to go to go to the temporary base, but they had to do the job. The fact that it even required two informers over just one just showed how big of a job it was.

"Why did we accept?" Saeyoung asked. "Those guys are assholes."

"For the money." Saeran responded glumly. He was half-hearted in his movements as he put in his contact lenses and brushed his hair. Saeyoung had already packed up some of his clothing as well as the materials he thought that he might need on the job. At least it wouldn't be neither his nor Saeran's job to infiltrate the building. They could stay behind and keep an eye on the systems.

"...You should have just let me go alone." Saeyoung climbed to his feet and pulled on his tactical vest over the top of his clothing. His playfulness from the chatroom fell away from him like a jacket, discarded to be put on again at a later time. Saeran exited the bathroom to pick up his own vest and pull it on. Saeyoung put up his hood to block out his shock of red hair. "It's not like I can't handle it." Probably, he didn't add.

Saeran heard it anyway and shot him a frown. "I can handle it too."

"You know that's not why I don't want you to go."

Saeran sighed. "I know I have history with them...but they should at least be mature...right?"

Saeyoung scoffed. When was anybody in the agency actually mature? Saeyoung was just angrier that he had been punished for fighting back the last time he had saw them.

He could still remember how Saeran had looked when the men had tasered him for the fun of it. Saeyoung had seen red faster than anything else before as he had tackled them and laid into them. He had managed to bloody up one of their faces before he had been slammed to the floor and tasered as well. Vanderwood had been the one to break them all up, but Saeyoung and Saeran had suffered for it as the agency separated the brothers for two weeks and threw them both into cold chambers, blindfolded and naked with little food or water.

Saeyoung swallowed against the memory of it had tortured Saeran for no reason but for the knowledge that it enraged Saeyoung. The agency was a shit hole, but they couldn't do much worse than what they had suffered through with their mother. A few weeks without food or water and locked in the darkness was barely anything.

"You should've just let me take the job. You did just get back from a long one. You should focus on the party." He suggested, brought of his memories as the brothers carried their duffel bags to the trunk of one of Saeyoung's cars.

"It's fine. I'm used to it." Saeran climbed into the passenger seat and waited for Saeyoung to get behind the wheel before adding, "Besides...I think we should both distance ourselves a bit."

Saeyoung was silent as he backed the car out of the garage and drove off down the street. He didn't need to respond to his brother because Saeyoung knew that he was right. The both of them were too deep. They weren't supposed to be close to any of the RFA members. They didn't know what would happen in the future.

"...Is that your decision, then?" He asked after a long time. "Do you want to leave the RFA when we leave the agency?"

Saeran gazed down at his hands. "I don't want to leave the RFA. But...what choice do we have?"

Saeyoung didn't know.

"The agency could go after them if we stay. But I don't want to leave either."

"Then we need to thoroughly take down the agency. Completely expose them." This was a conversation they had run through on more than one occasion. It sent chills through Saeyoung's body. He had to remind himself that there weren't any bugs in his car so that the agency could hear them. He checked them daily.

"...Yes."

"If we do, though, we're going to be exposed as well."

"I'm...less worried about our father finding us and more worried about Vanderwood." Saeran glanced at his brother. "Have you thought about what we should do with him?"

"Vanderwood is easy." Saeyoung mused. "He doesn't want to die anymore than any of us. If we took down the agency completely, then he would be freed as well."

"But what if he turns on us?"

"Then we do what we need."

"Does that involve leaving?"

"I…" He hesitated, then frowned. "I don't know, Saeran-ah."

He imagined leaving now like he had done in the past. Abandoning his life and friends with only V and his brother as his contacts. He would never see Yoosung, or Zen, or Yuna ever again. He and Saeran would disappear from the map to live alone somewhere completely anonymously. Away from the risk of their father or any vengeful agents or from abuse. Just the two of them, finally happy.

His heart ached in his chest at never going to another RFA party. He could still hear Yuna's laugh in his ears. He recalled the look of longing in his brother's face the last time the two of them had hung out with Yoosung.

* * *

 **[You have entered the chatroom!]**

 **Yuna** : Seven! 3

 **You** : Heeeeello~

 **Yuna** : Are you and Five home safe?

 **You** : lol ya it was al fine. nothin to worry bout.

 **Yuna** : Where is Five?

 **You** : don't worry about him

 **You** : He'll probly be here soon.

 **You** : hw is the party goin?

 **Yuna** : It's going well!

 **Yuna** : I already emailed a couple of guests and have some people in mind.

 **Yuna** : You missed V popping by briefly.

 **You** : Oh. I missed him.

 **Yuna** : He couldn't stay very long.

 **You** : ye I saw the chat

 **Yuna** : I've missed you! It's only been a couple days

 **Yuna** : but I've been suuuuper bored without you to play with!

 **You** : ya?

 **Yuna** : Yeah!

 **Yuna** : …

 **Yuna** : Are you okay, Seven?

 **Yuna** : You seem quiet…

 **You** : I'm fine.

 **Yuna** : You're making a lot more typos than usual

 **You** : i'm typin w/ 1 hand.

 **You** : brok my thumb

 **Yuna** : What? How? Are you okay?

 **You** : Yeong-un is lookin at it

 **[500 has entered the chatroom!]**

 **Yuna** : Yeong-un! You're safe!

 **500** : Hello

 **Yuna** : Seven said he broke a finger?

 **500** : Yeah...It should be fine.

 **You** : It's a bit hard to type...worried about my job.

 **Yuna** : Can you still hack though?

 **You:** I can still use my toes.

 **Yuna** : Your toes?!

 **You** : ya

 **Yuna** : Is that all that's bothering you?

 **Yuna** : What happened?

 **500** : We can't go into details about it…

 **500** : We just...had a bit of trouble.

 **You: unnecessary trouble**

 **Yuna** : It's okay if you don't go into details! I'm here to listen :3

 **You** : We already said we cant talk about it.

 **500** : Hyung…

 **You** : Yeong-un, you should rest.

 **500** : You're hurt worse than me. I'm fine.

 **Yuna** : I want to make you feel better, Luciel.

 **You** : God...I already said I'm fine.

 **500** : Yuna, he's not in a good mood…

 **Yuna** : I get that and that's okay!

 **You** : we cant talk about how our coworkers are trash

 **You** : n how they would probly kill us if they could

 **You** : n how they r bullies

 **You: n how next time i see them im gonna make sur they never work with us again**

 **500: Hyung.**

 **500** : You should put the phone down and go sleep. You haven't slept the past few nights.

 **Yuna** : You don't have to shut him down.

 **Yuna** : What about those guys, Luciel?

 **Yuna** : Can I help you at all?

 **You** : ...

 **You** : You're probably right, Yeong-un.

 **You** : I'm going to sleep.

 **Yuna** : wait

 **[You have left the chatroom!]**

* * *

"Hyung." Saeran gently grabbed Saeyoung's phone and pulled it from his grip. Saeyoung allowed him, still steaming with his own anger. He couldn't help having lost control in the chatroom. He needed to be better than that, though. He couldn't lose his cool like that.

But he couldn't help his fury as it reignited at the sight of the bruises darkening Saeran's skin. His nose was still red and swollen from when it had been broken during the fight. As soon as "teammates" had broken Saeyoung's thumb, Saeran had jumped at them and started swinging. If their team leader hadn't been against the petty fighting and had ratted them out to the boss, Saeyoung was sure that he and his brother would be missing from the RFA for longer than a couple of days.

"It's bullshit!" Saeyoung spat as he ran an exhausted and shaking hand over his face. He hated the scrape of the bandage binding up his thumb, but he couldn't do anything about it. The knuckles on his hands were still swollen as well. Everything ached. "What is it about us that makes people want to beat our damn faces in? I'm tired of it!"

"I know." Saeran agreed.

"This is the last time." Saeyoung swore, voice dropping. He took the ice pack from the table and carefully pressed it to Saeran's nose. "I won't let anybody hurt you like this again, Saeran-ah."

"You don't always have to defend me, Hyung." Saeran responded softly, taking a hold of the ice pack for himself to hold it. "I can protect myself now."

"I'm your brother." He met Saeran's eyes. "I'll always protect you, and you'll always protect me, right?"

Saeran's eyes softened. "Yeah."

"Besides," he quickly changed his tone as he shot him a wry grin. His mouth hurt from the split lip he had, "you were pretty quick to jump Kim's ass fast enough, hahaha!" His heart was lightening a bit. His anger wasn't burning as hot, although it still hovered there in his chest quickening his heart rate.

"He broke your finger." Saeran's voice darkened, glaring at Saeyoung's thumb.

"Exactly. Looking out for each other just like always." Just like they had promised when they had both entered the agency.

The brothers fell silent to allow the moment to sink in. Saeyoung thought once again about his choice to have Saeran join the agency too. How different his life would be if his brother hadn't been beside him throughout the training in the agency. If Saeyoung hadn't let Saeran also read the hacking books with him because two minds earning money had been better than one. Saeyoung didn't know if he would be better or worse off if Saeran had been left to Rika and V's care. He tried not to think about it often even though it continued to invade his mind.

Saeyoung's phone vibrating from next to them startled them both out of their thoughts. Yuna's adorable icon lit up the screen. Saeyoung's mouth tightened before he ignored the call. Saeran said nothing but stood up with a small wince.

"I should go home." He said. "And you should rest."

"You should stay the night here so you can get some sleep too." Saeyoung protested. "You're dead on your feet too."

Saeran shrugged a bit. "I need to go home sometime this month. It's been too long since I've been there. And I think I have a contact for Yuna there."

Saeyoung's phone began to ring again. Again he ignored it. He put the phone in his pocket. "I still don't like that place." He grumped. The both of them had been granted two separate bases to stay at even though both brothers tended to sleep at Saeyoung's house more. It was better protected and had much better security, plus Vanderwood couldn't access it as easily. But Saeran still had his own apartment that he stayed at too. Saeyoung rarely went over there.

"It's alright."

"It's too unprotected. You can't put hardly any security measures there."

"You've told me before, Hyung."

"Just bring your plants over here." Saeyoung said as his phone once again went off in his pocket. "That's the only reason you go back anyway."

Saeran scoffed and gathered his bag onto his good shoulder. He still looked haggard as all hell. "You don't have any windows here. They would die."

"I can't believe you love your plants more than me!"

"Good _bye_ , Hyung." Saeran waved as he walked towards the garage door. "Get some sleep please."

"Yeah," Saeyoung waved back, "you too."

Once his brother was gone Saeyoung made his way over to the computer room and turned on the feed for Rika's apartment. Surprisingly enough Saeyoung could see Yuna purposely lingering in front of the camera with a stubborn set to her face as she brought her phone to her ear. He groaned as his phone went off again. She really wasn't going to stop calling him, would she?

Reluctantly he picked up the phone, letting his head thump onto the desk. "Yuna…"

"I knew you would pick up eventually." Yuna said instead of a greeting, only sounding a smidge smug. "Most people do. I didn't think you would fall asleep too fast."

"I can't talk about it." He told her in a stony voice before she could ask the question she clearly wanted to. He turned his head so he could continue to monitor the feed. Against his will, his heart lightened to see her. She was beautiful today too with her hair in a loose thick braid that hung over her shoulder. He wondered if she would let him braid her hair sometime.

"That's fine. I get it." She sighed, looking sad but understanding. "I can...kind of guess what happened based on what you said. But you and Yeong-un are okay, right?"

Saeyoung wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep to her voice, but he didn't want to stop looking at her. His eyes stung from having stared at computer screens for days with a lack of sleep. "We're fine."

"Okay. That's good. Um...Do you want me to tell you what's happened while you were gone? Since we can't talk about your work."

"I'm probably going to pass out soon, to be honest."

"Just make some noises to let me know you're still awake and listening." She laughed. "And when you stop doing that, I'll assume you're asleep." Saeyoung hummed, eyes closing. "Are you at least in your bed?"

"Mm-mm."

"Come on, God Seven~" She teased. "At least lay down in your bed~ Go go go go go!"

Saeyoung did as she commanded with great displeasure, but the feeling of his bed against his sore body had him groaning in pleasure. "Holy shit...I've missed my beeeeeed~"

Yuna didn't respond right away, but Saeyoung heard her breathing. After a moment she cleared her throat and asked, "Are you comfortable then? I'll tell you about how the party is going."

"Jus' a sec." He muttered and scrambled out of his jeans and over shirt so he was left in his boxers and an undershirt. "Okay...go."

He fell asleep far too quickly to even remember what happened past the mention of Zen.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Because I'm unable to use certain symbols, please imagine there are emojis in the blank spots.**

* * *

 **Yuna** : Why are you guys so against it?

 **Yuna** : It seems fun!

 **ZEN** : Fun is definitely a stretch!

 **500** : He's right. Shouldn't you focus on the party?

 **Yuna** : I'm used to multitasking. It won't be a problem.

 **Yuna** : Besides, can't Seven hook me up?

 **You** : always~

 **You** : But I don't think u should go either

 **ZEN** : Yuna seriously it's super sketchy!

 **Yuna** : You said that about the underground theatre too. ;P

 **Yuna** : And that worked out great!

 **ZEN** : Well you also said that the Shakespeare role seemed good.

 **ZEN** : And then that went completely sideways!

 **Yuna** : HEY!

 **Yuna** : TO BE FAIR

 **Yuna** : They added the monkey without telling me.

 **ZEN** : That doesn't make it better!

 **You** : lololol omg what is this story?

 **500** : Tell us.

 **ZEN** : We will never speak of it again.

 **Yuna** : Well…~

 **ZEN** : YUNA

 **You** : Tell tell!

 **Yuna** : ;3c

 **Yuna** : No no, I mustn't ruin my client's image.

 **500** : Jaehee would tell us if she was here :(

 **ZEN** : ¬A¬

 **ZEN** : No she wouldn't.

 **You** : lololol Jaehee would either tell us or be horrified she's never seen the play

 **ZEN** : Nobody saw the play! It was a flop!

 **ZEN** : TT~TT

 **ZEN** : That damn monkey

 **500** : They're teasing us.

 **You** : Yeah tell us the story already~

 **You** : Or I'll just look it up~

 **ZEN** : Quit threatening me lol

 **You** : I won't tell anyone else

 **You** : +u+

 **You** : it wouldn't get much money anyway

 **ZEN** : what the hell dude

 **ZEN** : ¬A¬

 **500** : Where did Yuna go?

 **You** : I know. She's usually helping me

 **You** : YU

 **You** : NA

 **You** : YU

 **You** : NA

 **You** : ~~~~

 **ZEN** : Quit filling the chat

 **500** : He's saying it out loud too

 **ZEN** : Are you always at his house?

 **500** : No.

 **500** : I can just tell that he's doing it.

 **500** : I'm at my home now.

 **You** : She's still logged on…

 **ZEN** : maybe I should call her?

 **You** : I can't see her on the camera.

 **ZEN** : Camera?!

 **500** : Surveillance feed.

 **ZEN** :

 **ZEN** : Dude what the hell

 **ZEN: Are you stalking her?!**

 **ZEN:** I won't sit still if you are even for you

 **You** : nah nah

 **You** : It can only see the hallway.

 **500** : Calm down ^^;

 **500** : It really is just for protection

 **ZEN** : Protection from what?

 **You** : Wouldn't you like to know~

 **500** : Protection for the documents inside of the apartment.

 **You** : Boo~

 **You** : Yeong-un always ruins my fun

 **You** : TT^TT

 **500** : I'm not dealing with this pissing contest nonsense.

 **ZEN** : Whoa!

 **ZEN** : Never thought I would hear Five use that kind of language!

 **ZEN** : lololol

 **You** : TT^TT

 **You** : So mean

 **Yuna** : Sorry, I'm back.

 **Yuna** : I was answering a couple of emails on my computer and packing.

 **You** : Welcome back sweetie!

 **You** : \\(^o^)/

 **Yuna** : I'm back sweetie!

 **Yuna** : (o3o)/ ~3

 **ZEN** : Yuna…

 **ZEN** : TT-TT

 **Yuna** : I'm back, lovely Zen~

 **ZEN** : jfdk

 **ZEN** : I can't believe you still call me that even though you're older

 **ZEN** : But I like it

 **ZEN** :

 **Yuna** : lolol what even are Korean social norms to an American?

 **Yuna** : ;3c

 **500** : I shouldn't ever be in a chatroom alone with you three.

 **Yuna** : I'm back, lovely Yeong-un~

 **500** : Gross.

 **Yuna** : LOL ilu

 **Yuna** : Alright, I'm actually gonna take off. I have to go rent a car.

 **ZEN** : For?

 **You** : wait

 **You** : are you seriously going to that mint eye place?

 **Yuna** : Uh, yeah?

 **ZEN** : Yuna no!

 **500** : Why were you packing?

 **Yuna** : They invited me to stay for a couple days to check out the place.

 **ZEN** : YUNA SERIOUSLY I DON'T LIKE THIS

 **You** : **staying there?!**

 **You** : what about the party?

 **Yuna** : Relax~

 **Yuna** : I can do most of the work from there.

 **Yuna** : And I'll be back way before the party I promise. Still got a while.

 **500** : This is super sketchy.

 **You** : Yuna, send me the email right now so I can track it.

 **Yuna** : No~

 **Yuna** : You're already busy enough. It's nbd

 **You** : It is a big deal!

 **ZEN** : Yuna please just send Seven the email

 **ZEN** : Or at least bring me with you!

 **ZEN** : I'm not letting you go alone to a sketchy place!

 **Yuna** : It's not that sketchy. I've been to worse.

 **Yuna** : I've already been chatting with them a bit.

 **Yuna** : Stop worrying so much. I'll stay in contact the entire time.

 **ZEN** : Yuna I'm serious!

 **You** : What is with this stubborn streak?

 **ZEN** : She's always like this.

 **ZEN** : Yuna?

 **500** : Hyung, is she on the camera?

 **Yuna** : Seriously guys, relax;;;;;

 **Yuna** : I've got this handled.

 **Yuna** : Unless you had a premonition dream, Zen?

 **ZEN** : I don't need to have a dream to have a bad feeling about this.

 **ZEN** : You should stay in places you don't know!

 **Yuna** : We do that all the time when you have to travel for a play.

 **ZEN** : This is something different.

 **Yuna** : Not really?

 **You** : Where are you even going? Where is this place?

 **Yuna** : If I tell you, you guys will just complain more.

 **500** : That's just more suspicious.

 **ZEN** : Yeah!

 **Yuna** : Look, I'll call you when I get there Zen.

 **Yuna** : I'll even come into the chatroom.

 **Yuna** : Until then, keep thinking of guests for the party.

 **Yuna** : ttyl

 **[Yuna has left the chatroom!]**

 **500** : ...She's very determined.;;

 **ZEN** : She's stubborn!

 **ZEN** : Damn…

 **ZEN** : I'm going too. I'm going to call her right now.

 **[ZEN has left the chatroom!]**

 **You** : I can't believe this.

 **You** : Can a person be that ridiculous?

 **500** : Unfortunately so.

 **500** : Makes me wonder what kind of stuff she's been through to develop a mindset like that.

 **You** : Yeah, going to weird places and spending a few nights;;;

 **You** : Ugh, she's right about my work though.

 **You** : They didn't give me a break and now I don't have time to track the email…

 **500** : Same. :(

 **You** : Shit, you too?

 **500** : Unfortunately.

 **500** : If I find time, I'll get the email from Yuna.

 **You** : Same. Keep me updated.

 **500** : Of course.

 **You** : I guess I'll go too.

 **500** : Bye, hyung.

 **[500 has left the chatroom!]**

 **[You have left the chatroom!]**


	8. Chapter 8

Saeyoung's computer dinged with a small alert that disturbed his focus. His eyes darted instinctively to view the alert only to spy the grey camera feed picking up the visual of Saeran entering the house through the security door. The man leaned into a different camera hidden below the view of the feed. It was amusing how Saeran didn't even have trouble with the facial recognition system considering that they had the same faces as twins. It brought a smile to Saeyoung's face as the other man left the feed to enter the house proper.

"Hyung?"

Saeyoung pressed down on a button that would let him have access to the intercom system in the house. "Computer room." He announced. Saeran slipped around the corner and pushed open the door into the dark enclosed room that was Saeyoung's primary workstation. He preferred to use this set-up whenever he was doing more serious work for the agency.

"…Did you get a hard mission?" Saeran asked as he pulled out a nearby chair to sit in.

Saeyoung groaned and dropped his head onto his desk barely missing the clutter of soda cans and empty snack bags. "No…!" He turned his head and sighed. "I just can't focus at all at my other desk. Why is it so hard to focus…? Speaking of which," he pointed an accusing finger at his brother, "you ruined my hard-earned concentration!"

He had almost been getting somewhere. He just needed to look through the backgrounds of two more people for viable dirt before he could turn it into the boss and be done for a little while. He would have to take small missions over the course of the rest of the month before the party. Now that he had lost focus, he had no clue when or if it would come back. Maybe he needed more Ph.D Pepper.

"Oh…sorry." Saeran shrugged off his coat and hung it on the back of his chair before pulling out his phone. "Is it because of Yuna?"

Saeyoung didn't respond, instead choosing to sit up and stare balefully at his computer screen.

"You wouldn't be able to see her on the security feed anyway."

"Have you finished your work?" Saeyoung asked instead.

"Not yet…I have to go to HQ first." He didn't look up from his phone. Saeyoung's hand clenched around his mouse as tension ran through his shoulders. He didn't like Saeran going there alone.

"Are you going with Vanderwood?"

"No."

Saeyoung wondered if he could convince Vanderwood to go with Saeran. Especially considering the debacle that had been their last mission. His thumb was still smarting.

He turned to Saeran to ask his opinion on the matter but Saeran had his phone to his ear and was saying hello to the person on the other side. Saeyoung could fainting hear Yoosung's voice, but even without hearing it he would've known it was Yoosung by the soft warm look that entered Saeran's face. He never made that kind of face for anyone else. Saeyoung wondered if his face looked just as hopeful when he talked to Yuna. Probably not considering he was usually laughing and joking…plus it would be embarrassing. He was getting embarrassed just from seeing it on Saeran's face.

Saeyoung instead turned back to his computer and ended up staring at it while faintly paying attention to the sound of Saeran talking to Yoosung. His thoughts drifted wondering where his life would be if the two of them had grown up under normal circumstances. He and Saeran would be allowed to fall in love and maybe even get married. Saeran would get the chance to try to pursue Yoosung for better or for worse. Would Yoosung ever consider giving Saeran a chance? Saeyoung didn't know for sure, but the possibility was definitely there. Saeyoung would have been able to support his brother's love and even work to possibly push the two together.

Saeyoung would have been able to be with someone so bright like Yuna. He could picture it so easily. She would come to Saeyoung's house and curl against his side as the two of them binge-watched vines together on his laptop. She would laugh that beautiful laugh and share it with him, and Saeyoung wouldn't have to resist the urge to taste that laughter on his tongue. He could allow himself to entertain the thoughts of bringing her to a space station and marrying her, dreaming of one day travelling to the moon together like he had joked with her in the past.

He and Saeran would buy houses next to each other so they could visit anytime. Saeyoung imagined having at least two children with Yuna…but he wouldn't be against more if she wanted them. She would be a fun mom, and Saeyoung was eager to right the mistakes of his childhood when he had been too young to help either himself or his brother. Saeran and Yoosung could live next door and take care of the kids. Maybe have three or four cats. Saeyoung could tease Yoosung anytime and Saeran and Yuna could share ice cream while watching everything. The kids would be able to run between the two houses at will.

Saeyoung could do something with his love of cars. Or maybe engineering. Maybe he could make robots. He could be the next big designer of robots and get rich because of it. He would have a garage that he could store all of his cars in. Yuna would look beautiful in his favorite red Herrari with her gorgeous black hair flying away behind her in the wind. Her teal eyes would glitter in the sunlight, but even they wouldn't be brighter than her smile. Saeyoung could already feel her hand in his, fingers laced together as they walked back into the house together. Then the door would beep as it clicked shut, letting Saeyoung the security was armed-

No, wait, that was his phone.

Saeyoung's eyes refocused on the computer screen he had been staring at and realized he had been daydreaming the entire time. The pleasant vision of a possible future fell away and with it the heavy cloak of reality settled itself back onto his shoulders. The happy life was a fake and unable to become a reality. Saeyoung knew this and couldn't tell if he hated it more that he had these daydreams or that he couldn't make the daydreams come true.

He lifted his phone to see that people were in the chatroom. Maybe he should take a break and say hi to everyone. Find out if Yuna had contacted any of them. He hadn't really talked to Zen since this morning when Yuna had said she would be leaving. How far away was she travelling? Saeyoung couldn't stand not knowing. She hadn't answered her phone when he had called her. It all chafed at him.

As Saeyoung clicked into the chatroom he realized that Zen would probably be the one to end up with Yuna. He clearly had feelings for the woman too. Saeyoung hated that his friend shared strong feelings for the same woman as him, but Saeyoung also knew it was a hopeless battle. The winner may not be determined, but Saeyoung already knew that it wasn't him. He couldn't be the winner. He would have to stay back and allow Zen to take the lead. He would have to be content with whatever the outcome was.

* * *

 **[You have entered the chatroom!]**

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : Nobody has heard from her?

 **ZEN** : No I have.

 **ZEN** : But she's still being stubborn

 **ZEN** : OTL

 **You** : srsly is this normal for her?

 **You** : OTL

 **Jumin** **Han** : It does seem rather reckless.

 **ZEN** : The excuse she gave me

 **ZEN** : was that we were worrying even though none of us were the ones to talk to them

 **ZEN** : and that she's on her guard but from the discussions she's had with them

 **ZEN** : she has no reason to be suspicious.

 **ZEN** : She ended up scolding me for not trusting her

 **ZEN** : OTL

 **ZEN** : I'm just trying to protect her!

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : Did she tell you what they are?

 **ZEN** : Just some kind of religious group

 **ZEN** : and that she was welcome to come take a look

 **You** : Doesn't that mean it can still be a cult?;

 **Jumin** **Han** : Are cults really religious in nature, though?

 **You** : they can seem like it

 **ZEN** : Whatever they are

 **ZEN** : I don't want her to convert to them!

 **ZEN** : I don't have a good feeling about this;

 **You** : 222

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : …3

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : I don't understand her recklessness.

 **You** : lol maybe its cuz she's American?

 **You** : I've spent time in America

 **You** : Things are just different there

 **Jumin Han** : I have also been there, and things did not seem to be that strange.

 **You** : u gotta hang with the working class, Mr. CEO

 **ZEN** : True

 **Jaehee Kang** : I hope she has at least done some research.

 **Jaehee Kang** : I may have to do some myself. Especially if so many members are wary and she may want to invite this "Mint Eye" to the party.

 **Jumin Han** : Speaking of the party,

 **Jumin Han** : Has anyone heard from V recently?

 **ZEN** : If he hasn't talked to you, then doubtful

 **ZEN** : Seven?

 **You** : Nope~

 **You** : Not Five either

 **You** : actually…

 **You** : where is he?;;

 **You** : L(ouo)J ?

 **Jumin Han** : Hm.

 **Jumin Han** : Assistant Kang.

 **Jaehee Kang** : Yes, Mr. Han?

 **Jumin Han** : Have you received any calls from V?

 **Jaehee Kang** : Why do you think I would not pass the message onto you if so?

 **Jaehee Kang** : OTL

 **[You have left the chatroom!]**

 **ZEN** : ? he just left without saying goodbye?

* * *

Saeyoung ran a hand over his face as he attempted to call V. It had been too long since he had last heard from the man. Saeyoung didn't think he should be out taking pictures in the wilderness with his eyes as bad as they were. He was slacking if he hadn't even thought about contacting the man before that moment. And usually V checked in with Saeyoung or Saeran in order to make sure everything was okay.

Saeran watched him curiously as he said goodbye to Yoosung and scooted closer to his brother. The phone didn't connect. Saeyoung frowned and put the phone down. He hoped that nothing bad had happened to the older man. Ever since Rika's death, V had been pulling away from everyone. His personality had changed from the confident but gentle man he had been when he had met Saeyoung and his brother to someone weak and repentant. Not that Saeyoung blamed him, but it was something he had noticed.

"No answer?" Saeran asked.

"You really haven't heard from him either? It would be nice just to talk about the party."

"Yeah. Is he okay?"

"I don't know. Probably?"

"I'm worried."

"Yeah, me too." He turned to raise a sly eyebrow at Saeran. "So~ What did you and 'sungie talk about~?"

Saeran gave his brother's arm a bit of a shove, his cheeks turning slightly pink despite hiding it well. "Stop. You know it's nothing."

Saeyoung thought of the image of neighboring houses and space station weddings. Of Yoosung and Saeran holding hands and sharing twin shy smiles. Of curling up on a couch and watching vines together. Of Zen pulling Yuna close before leaning down to kiss her. And then he smiled a bit bitterly.

"Yeah, I know."


	9. Chapter 9

"Oi…how long do you plan on napping?"

"Hey."

"Jeez, this guy…"

"Hey! Seven-Zero-Seven! Wake up before I decide to taser you!"

Saeyoung stirred at the yelling voice, woken from a dreamless sleep that only made him feel even more groggy. His body was quick to voice all of its complaints at the same time as his back and neck cried out in pain, his bladder shot him a warning, and his stomach begged for substance even as his mouth felt like it was greasier than Saeyoung's hair felt when he didn't bathe properly for a couple of days. Shit. He felt like shit. He would like to just go back to sleep if possible. In a bed preferably, his back and neck and numb arms added. He wasn't sure he could open his eyes long enough to even locate his bed, though.

"Agent Seven!" Saeyoung started properly out of his doze at his name being barked again.

"Uh…huh?" He forced his sore eyes open and adjusted his askew glasses to see Vanderwood with his arms crossed and glaring at him. Saeyoung cried out in shock at the sight. "Ms. Vanderwood! What are you doing here already?!"

"Obviously I'm having to check on your progress _again_ since you're taking so long." Vanderwood responded blandly. He took a look around Saeyoung's absolute mess of a room and made a face. "This place is filthy. How the hell do you live in this pigsty?"

Saeyoung's entire body once again voice how much it hated him with an added dosage of the pain from blood returning to his numbed limbs. He cringed at the feeling and ignored the question asked of him and instead asked, "How did it go with Five?"

Vanderwood sighed. "It went fine despite everything. I don't think the boss even mentioned the fight." He eyed Saeyoung. "You have to stop doting so much on your brother. It makes us both targets."

"I know that." He said, frowning as he rubbed his fingers to help stimulate the blood flow.

"If you know that then stop doing it."

"How _am_ I living in this pigsty?" Saeyoung suddenly asked. "By God, look at this place! How am I supposed to get any kind of work done? Ms. Vanderwood, would you mind getting the vacuum? I know you love it."

Vanderwood scowled. "I'm not cleaning up after you again! Give me your status report already! The client is waiting!"

Damn. He would have to try again in a bit. He should probably actually answer Vanderwood. Saeyoung pushed off of his desk so that he spun in his chair across the floor. Oh shit, that actually didn't help his stomach at all. He stopped himself quickly.

"Hey, if you vomit I'm not cleaning it up."

"Uggggggggh why do I do this to mysellllllf…"

"Stop eating so much junk all of the time and eat some vegetables. I know you know what they are." Vanderwood walked over to the computer monitors and glanced over the work Saeyoung had been doing while Saeyoung attempted to recover. He forced himself to his feet and wandered over to the bathroom and turned on the water to drink from the spout. Not the best idea, but definitely better than some of his previous ones. His mouth felt a bit better anyway.

Once he had finished drinking he shut the door to finally use the toilet, wash his hands, and return to the conversation. Vanderwood was waiting for him looking surprisingly less annoyed than before.

Saeyoung smirked. "Go on~ Say it~"

Vanderwood let out a soft groan. "Fine. You're further than I thought you would be."

"Hehehe, you admitted it!" Saeyoung had actually gotten quite a bit of work done before he had apparently passed out. He had been awake ever since that night when Yuna had finally contacted the RFA to let them know she was safe and arrived fine. She had even told everyone that the people she met, though kind of weird, weren't bad people. They treated her kindly even though she was going to stay on her guard for a little while just in case.

Saeyoung still didn't like it at all, and most of the RFA shared his feelings. Saeyoung had decided he would work through the night with his phone turned up loud just in case Yuna called and needed help. He would immediately drop his work to track her down if he needed to. On top of that, the sooner he finished this particular job the sooner he could take on smaller and quick jobs up until after the party.

He quickly went to check his phone. It was fairly early in the morning, but he had received a couple of texts from Yuna greeting him and just telling him good night and good morning like she did many mornings. Saeyoung sighed in relief. No trouble then.

"Seven," Vanderwood called while walking back into the room. Hilariously enough he was carrying a vacuum cleaner. That meant the man planned to stay for a couple of hours. Good news meant that Saeyoung's house would get cleaned. Bad news was that he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep, "Are you still keeping an eye on that woman?"

Saeyoung made a face. "No. She's moved locations."

"That explains why you're in here, then. And why you're so productive." Vanderwood shook his head as he unwound the power cord for the vacuum. "You really are too obvious."

Saeyoung bit his tongue against challenging the man. He had to remember that Vanderwood wasn't necessarily his enemy. He would still have to be cautious, but he couldn't get on the man's bad side. He needed to be smart about his moves.

"Ah~" He jumped back into his chair and shot off a couple of texts to Yuna to also tell her good morning and lament the lack of sleeping in a proper bed. She would at least sympathize with him. "I'll take a break then~"

"You already took a break! You need to finish that work!"

"You said it yourself that I'm already ahead~"

"No, you're just actually on target compared to being behind like you always are." Saeyoung chose to ignore that and checked out the RFA chatroom considering Yuna was actually there.

* * *

 **[You have entered the chatroom!]**

 **You** : omg…

 **You** : it's already morning T-T

 **You** : I'm so tired!

 **Yuna** : Did you work all night? TnT

 **You** : Yes…

 **You** : TTATT

 **500** : You need to rest once in a while please…

 **500** : TTnTT

 **You** : yeah…

 **You** : I actually did fall asleep at some point.

 **You** : The maid woke me up a little bit ago.

 **Jumin** **Han** : You only woke up now?

 **You** : ya

 **ZEN** : Have you seen what V wrote last night?

 **You** : What? V was here?!

 **You** : brb

 **[You have left the chatroom!]**

Saeyoung frowned as he looked through the couple of chatrooms he had missed last night. He was stunned to see that V had indeed been on and he had missed it. Why hadn't he called Saeyoung at all? He had called him so many times! No wait.

Saeyoung simultaneously rooted around for one of his other phones as he read the chatroom that he had missed. V was apparently shocked to hear that Yuna was going to this "Mint Eye" place and expressed great concern about it. He even asked her to leave right away and not to bother with them. Checking out his other phones Saeyoung groaned aloud over the roar of the vacuum as he saw that V had called him repeatedly. Fuck! He had been so focused on his RFA phone he had forgotten that V preferred to use a different line with him. He took a moment to try to call the man, but he received an error message stating the user was out of range. This phone tag game was ridiculous.

He logged back onto the current chatroom.

 **Yuna** : I'm more worried about V.

 **ZEN** : Well, he has been out of touch lately…

 **Yuna** : I'm still waiting to meet him again. It's been a long time.

 **ZEN** : Since before you became my manager.

 **Yuna** : Yeah!

 **[You have entered the chatroom!]**

 **You** : what…?

 **You** : What the heck is this?

 **500** : Did V try to call you?

 **You** : Yeah. I missed it T-T

 **You** : He called on one of my other phones that was on vibrate. Didn't wake me up.

 **ZEN** : You must have really been out of it;;

 **[Yoosung has entered the chatroom!**

 **[Jaehee Kang has entered the chatroom!]**

 **Yoosung** : What is this?

 **Yoosung** : V was here?

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : Hello everyone…

 **ZEN** : Morning, Jaehee.

 **Yuna** : Good morning!

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : It's good to see you are chipper and well, Yuna.

 **Yuna** : I had a great sleep! :3

 **You** : Don't rub it in T-T

 **Yuna** : Sorry, Luciel~

 **Yuna** : I wish I could help you sleep better.

 **Yuna** : I know a good tea mixture that always knocks me out that I think you would love!

 **You** : lolol share it with me

 **Yuna** : Come visit the apartment and I'll make it for you personally~ ;3c

 **You** : :3

 **Jumin** **Han** : **Excuse me, but we were discussing something more important than Luciel's terrible sleeping schedule.**

 **Yuna** : Oh, sorry.

 **ZEN** : OTL

 **ZEN** : It's too early for this…

 **Yoosung** : 222

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : ;;;

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : Yuna, it appears that even V is concerned about this Mint Eye place.

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : Can you please give us an update about how you are?

 **Yuna** : Again, I'm perfectly fine! I'm still more worried about V than myself.

 **Jumin** **Han** : What has happened there? You said you were going to attempt to be on your guard more.

 **Yuna** : Well that's just because the people here look suspicious.

 **Yoosung** : How so?

 **Yuna** : Like

 **Yuna** : They wear these cloaks and stuff

 **Yuna** : And I hear them mumbling weird phrases and codewords to each other…

 **500** : Sounds like a cult;;;

 **You** : omg Yuna plz…

 **Yuna** : Well yeah I'm definitely thinking it's more of a cult. But I'm not too worried yet.

 **ZEN** : You just said yourself that it's a cult! How are you not worried?!

 **Yuna** : Real talk?

 **Yuna: You guys have recommended me some weird freaking guests.**

 **Yuna** : A cult honestly would not be the strangest thing on my list of people I'm talking to.

 **Yuna** : =_=

 **ZEN** : …

 **You** : …

 **500** : She has a point.

 **Yoosung** : Not all of our guest recommendations are weird!

 **Yuna** : That's not the point.

 **Jumin** **Han** : How have they been treating you? Are they putting any sort of curses on you? Trapping you?

 **Yuna** : Lol Jumin what books do you read?

 **Jumin** **Han** : The usual. Black magic books.

 **Yuna** : Ah yes, totally normal.

 **You** : lolol

 **Yoosung** : omg;;

 **ZEN** : Putting aside his weird-ass reading habit, answer the questions Yuna!

 **Yuna** : Calm down;;

 **Yuna** : You become such a mother hen when you're worried, Zen lol

 **ZEN** : Because you're so careless sometimes!

 **ZEN** : Honestly your parents are right for worrying about you so much!

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : I have to agree.

 **500** : If my child did something like this, I would worry too.

 **Yoosung** : My heart wouldn't be able to take it!

 **Yuna** : All y'all need to just chill out~

 **Yuna** : Besides I've already talked to my parents last night.

 **Jumin** **Han** : I'm curious to hear their opinion of your situation.

 **Yuna** : I didn't tell them ;3c

 **ZEN** : Y U N A

 **Yuna** : Hush, mother.

 **Yuna** : The people here have been treating me well, actually.

 **Yuna** : Like they brought me breakfast this morning and gave me a beautiful bedroom with a large bed and everything.

 **Yuna** : Though the weirdest part is probably the fact that I'm not allowed to leave the floor I'm on without the correspondent I've been talking to.

 **You** : Who is that?

 **Yuna** : No idea. Everyone just calls her the "Savior".

 **Yuna** : She wears one of those kind of masquerade mask things. She's super beautiful though. Kind of familiar, actually?

 **Yuna** : Wonder if I met her before and that's why she's so kind to me. Can't recall where, though.

 **500** : Will you send me and Luciel the email now so that we can have your coordinates?

 **ZEN** : Or, I DON'T KNOW, give them the address?

 **500** : That works too.

 **You** : lol did you forget that was an option?

 **500** : Shut up.

 **You** : +u+

 **500** : …yes…

 **You** : I luv u

 **Yuna** : I luv u 2, 5~

 **500** : …

 **Yoosung** : Who could this Savior be?

 **Yoosung** : Is she nice?

 **Yuna** : Yeah! Though I haven't seen her since last night. We're supposed to meet in a little while. She wanted to take a walk with me.

 **ZEN** : THE ADDRESS, YUNA

 **Yuna** : It's FINE already

 **Yuna** : jfc I'll send the email to you guys, okay? You can track it whenever if it calms the fire in all of your collective pants.

 **Jumin** **Han** : We are worried for you because you are doing something very stupid.

 **Yuna** : It's not stupid. It's my job.

 **Yuna** : I know you know what it means to do your job, Jumin Han.

 **Jaehee** **Kang** : Even V has asked you not to get involved, though.

 **Yoosung** : I'm more concerned about how V knows about that place at all.

 **Jumin** **Han** : That is a good point.

 **Yoosung** : Is he involved with it maybe?

 **You** : lol no way~

 **Yoosung** : Does nobody else find this to be weird?

 **500** : Maybe V also got an email before…?

 **Yoosung** : But you saw the chatroom!

 **Yoosung** : He acted like he knew all about it!

 **Yoosung** : He keeps asking us to trust him, but how can we trust him about knowing about this weird place?

 **Yuna** : I don't know how V knows this place

 **Yuna** : But I'm going to go. I have a walking date with a lovely lady.

 **Yuna** : I sent the email, so I hope you all calm down now.

 **Yuna** : Bye.

 **[Yuna has left the chatroom!]**

 **You** : …Did she seem angry to you all?

 **ZEN** : Definitely angry.

 **ZEN** : Jumin, you pissed off my cute manager!

 **ZEN** : 8C

 **Jumin Han** : Only by telling her the truth. Were you not agreeing with me?

 **ZEN** : You didn't have to be so cruel in your words!

 **You** : to be fair Yuna is being reckless…

 **500** : That'll endear you to her.

 **You** : It's the truth, though!

 **ZEN** : At least she finally sent the email.

 **You** : Oh! Right! I'm going to go check on that.

 **You** : See you later everyone! Five, if you come over bring food. I'm dying.

 **500** : …

 **500** : ¬_¬ …

 **You** : 3

 **[You have left the chatroom!]**

* * *

Saeyoung placed aside his phone immediately to log onto his email and scan through what he had received. A lot of it was the typical nonsense, but he paused at the email from Yuna and opened the original attachment. He itched to already get started on tracking down the owner of the email, but he also debated just tracking Yuna's phone. He didn't really even need the email anymore if Yuna was already there. But all of it was time-consuming and Vanderwood would only be distracted by cleaning for so long. The fact the man was actually letting him get away with not working at the moment was a temporary miracle.

He ran a hand into his hair, frowning. Yoosung had a point about V, he thought. How _did_ V know about Mint Eye? He had seemed very frantic about it too, which was unlike the V that he was now. Even calling Saeyoung so excessively was concerning. He needed to get in contact with the man soon.

But work was still priority. He really needed to get it done so it was freaking done and over with. But he also wanted to call Yuna to talk to her personally. She seemed pissed off, though. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to contact her yet. And wasn't she going on a walk with this "Savior" person?

Everything seemed weird. Saeyoung didn't know how much of it was his sick body, his exhausted brain, and his lack of food and how much of it was actually the situation with V and Yuna and Mint Eye. He needed to do some research.

He hoped that Saeran would get there soon. His brother would help to steady him. Saeran was always good at keeping priorities straight where Saeyoung usually found himself flailing in his rushing thoughts. He would allow himself to really take a break and maybe go crash on the couch for a little while until Vanderwood was done cleaning. Then he would throw himself back into the fray again.

He decided to go take a shower first. Maybe the hot water would help him. It certainly was good at waking him up and cleaning his mouth out as he rubbed at his eyes. He wondered what kind of tea Yuna had been talking about. He briefly allowed himself to imagine leaving the shower and dressing to find Yuna out in the kitchen waiting with some hot cups of tea. She might have her curly hair tied in a loose ponytail. She would no doubt give him that beautiful smile. He could see it so easily.

He sighed. He was in deep already. He would have to be very careful like Vanderwood had said. He couldn't get any closer than he already was. At least he could imagine what he wants in his head. His thoughts were safe there. No mind reading technology yet.

He hoped Yuna really was safe.


	10. Chapter 10

Saeyoung was in the middle of slowly but steadily eating his dinner with Saeran and frowning down at his brother's book. His curiosity had him leaning over to try to read what Saeran was reading, but Saeran gave him a short reprimanding look as his eyes darted to Saeyoung's dripping food. Saeyoung leaned back a little bit and popped the bite on his fork into his mouth and chewed it before he sipped at his Ph.D. Pepper.

"You should really take a break." He recommended. "When you're not on the computer, you're reading up on computers. Give your mind a rest."

"I can't." Saeran admitted with a frown of his own, rubbing at his eyes underneath of his glasses. They were red again from having worn his contacts all night and all day long. Saeyoung didn't understand why he didn't just wear his glasses more at home. "The boss scolded me about being slow." He hesitated.

"Tell me." Saeyoung prompted in a lower voice. Saeran still didn't answer. "Come on, don't hide things from me. No secrets, right?"

"It's not a secret." Saeran protested with a sigh. "I'm just…" He ran a hand into his hair, allowing his sadness and frustration to appear on his face as he admitted, "I was compared to you again…"

Saeyoung really hated the agency. His brother wasn't allowed to look like that. "Stop letting it get to you so much. They compare us to each other to pit us against ourselves. You know that."

"I do know that." Saeran agreed, still upset, "But that doesn't mean it doesn't bother me, hyung. They just...God, they know how to get under my skin!"

"And that's exactly why they do it! You can't show it so much. Just like with the bullies and those assholes we fought."

Saeran glared at him. "I already _know_ that." His anger turned downward again, oscillating between anger at the situation and himself. Why did he always have to beat himself up so much? "I'm not like you, hyung. I'm not strong and confident in myself. I have to constantly work hard to even keep up with you. It's not fair."

"Stop putting me on such a pedestal!" Saeyoung scolded, once again attempting to nip those budding weeds from Saeran's heart before they festered. "You keep acting like we're not the same. You don't have to be strong or confident because you're _smart_! You work hard at what you learn and you're better than me at it no matter what the assholes in the agency say!" He sighed. "You're amazing, Saeran-ah. And you're stronger than anybody I know."

Saeran's eyes flicked over to where Vanderwood was talking on the phone in the other room. Saeyoung looked too just in case. The man hadn't heard Saeyoung's words. Good. He needed to be careful saying his brother's name in front of anyone else's presence.

Saeran turned back to him, staring at him. Saeyoung waited as his brother considered the words before he said, "I'm the weaker twin...you know that."

"There is no weaker twin because if one of us is strong then we're both strong." Saeyoung reached out and gripped his brother's arm. "So, I'll be strong for both of us when you're not feeling up to it, just like I know you'll do the same for me. Right?" Saeran gave a small smile, temporarily reassured, and nodded once.

The weight in Saeyoung's heart felt some relief from the crushing pain at the sight. It seemed that no matter how old the two of them got, Saeran still suffered from their past together. Saeyoung wished to take his brother away from this life with all of its stress and let his brother finally heal from all of the trauma they had both endured. It helped having friends and other people to communicate with, but the threat to their lives was still always there. Saeran needed to be away from that.

They needed to leave the agency as soon as they could, but would leaving the RFA cause more harm than good in the long run for both of them? Saeyoung didn't know if he had the strength needed to cut all ties and make a run for it, but if they didn't then all of their friends may be in danger from the agency. Saeyoung still didn't know what to do.

He took another bite of his meal as Saeran went back to reading his book. He looked towards Vanderwood as the man hung up on his phone call and approached the two of them to take a seat at the table as well. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Saeyoung's food.

"Do you only eat properly when your brother is here?"

"Sometimes it's the other way around." Saeyoung joked.

Saeran huffed at that.

Vanderwood shook his head. "Hey Five, what about you? Did you eat yet or do I have to force you?"

"I already ate."

"Are there any leftovers? If you made it, then it will actually be edible." He lifted his head to try to see the stove from where they were. Saeyoung made an offended noise.

"My cooking is fine, thanks!"

"If you like bricks." Saeran glanced at his brother out of the corner of his eye, a smile quirking on his lips. Saeyoung groaned.

"Fiiiiiive!" He whined.

Vanderwood got up to go grab a plate and some food before he returned to the table. None of the men spoke for a while, but that wasn't uncommon. They weren't really friends, but Vanderwood was one of the few people Saeyoung didn't have as big of a problem with. Vanderwood was actually a guy who didn't speak a whole lot unless it was necessary anyway. He tended to text more than he would say out loud. He had no reason to talk to either of the brothers unless it was to force them to work more or to give them warnings.

Saeyoung, though, had a question that he was willing to take the risk to ask. He just needed to be careful with it. "Hey, Ms. Vanderwood…"

"Stop calling me Ms." Vanderwood scolded.

Saeyoung ignored him, "What did you plan on doing after leaving the agency?"

Saeran stopped reading his book.

Vanderwood smiled in a disbelieving way, as if he was humoring Saeyoung's question. "Leaving? Where did you get the idea that we can just leave?"

"I didn't say it would be easy." Saeyoung denied. "I'm just wondering."

"You're hearing me wrong. You know we can't just leave the agency. This is our life, remember? They own our lives." Vanderwood frowned.

"Humor me~" Saeyoung pulled on his 707 persona, leaning forward with a grin. "There has to be _something_ you'd want to do with your freedom~"

"I'm happy being able to erase my old life."

"Even though you can die anytime?"

"Do you think that's any different from my old life?" He countered. "It's the same for you, isn't it?" Saeyoung didn't respond, but he wasn't able to maintain the 707 smile in the face of that question. "Exactly."

"So, you don't ever want to leave the agency? Even if you could possibly have a free shot at a new life without threats?" He pressed with his own serious frown.

Vanderwood was suspicious now. There wasn't any way an agent could talk about these things with other agents without putting them on high alert. "Why are you asking these things, 707?"

Saeran shifted, crossing his ankles under the table. A warning signal to Saeyoung. Saeyoung already knew, though.

He grinned again and held his hands up. "Whoa whoa, calm down~ I'm not implying anything if that's what you think! I'm just thinking out loud here! We don't know much about our dear handler, after all~"

"It's better kept that way." Vanderwood rolled his eyes but marginally relaxed. 707 was the best at defusing tension. Vanderwood was practically trained to respond in a more exasperated manner to 707. Thank you, Pavlov!

"I'm mostly wondering because look at how dangerous the world is these days! Who knows what could happen in the future? The agency might even be taken down at some point! What will you do then? You've gotta think of these things!"

"That could be considered a threat, 707."

"It's not~"

Vanderwood shook his head, but his face was one that showed he was actually considering things. Saeyoung waited and made sure he wasn't looking too expectant. He pretended to drop the subject as he finished up his food and went to wash his plate in the sink. That should earn him bonus points for actually cleaning up after himself!

"Hey, your brother isn't trying to gain some kind of blackmail on me, is he?" Vanderwood murmured to Saeran, warily watching as Saeyoung actually cleaned his plate.

Saeran shook his head. "He was asking me about these things too...I think he's just curious."

Vanderwood sat back and crossed his arms. "Oi! 707! If you want to know so badly about my thoughts, I'll tell you under two conditions. One, you two need to do deadweight training. When was the last time you did it?" Saeyoung and Saeran both groaned at that. They both hated deadweight training. "And two...why don't you two tell me yours?" The look in his eyes was sharp. "Information for information."

"Jeez, what is this? A mission?" Saeyoung complained as he returned to his brother. Reluctantly Saeran stood up. Saeyoung motioned for Saeran to get on the floor. When the man dropped to the floor as if he was gone, Saeyoung went through the efforts of trying to maneuver his brother's body onto his back. It may be useful to know how to carry people like this and be prepared for this kind of weight during missions, but it was such a pain in the ass. Especially with a live person. Saeran would be next.

They both needed this information even at the cost of this. Saeyoung knew that he had Vanderwood on the line. Now he just needed to carefully reel him in without the man escaping his hooks.

"I don't really have much of an idea. I just know I'd want to live with Five somewhere! Maybe find someone and settle down." He grunted as he got his brother onto his back and pushed back up to stand up fully. "Right, Five?"

Saeran hummed in agreement. "Although...I'd like to have a new family…" He confessed softly.

"Any kids of mine are kids of yours too!" Saeyoung assured him with a grin as he started his laps around the living room. Vanderwood seemed disarmed but interested as he followed them out and watched them. At least he wasn't on his guard anymore. Excellent.

"I'm not sure even 500 would want to share children with you. Even if you are brothers." He huffed a laugh at that.

"Well what about you then? Information for information."

Vanderwood tapped his fingers on the table in thought. Only when he was taking a while did Saeyoung begin to whine at him. Vanderwood scowled, "Jeez, shut up already! I was thinking. What would I want to do…? I don't know. Maybe go back to England. I'm tired of living here. Go back to normalcy, although I'd have to change my looks again. Just somewhere far away from here and start over."

"Wife and kids? Husband and kids? Husband and kinks? Husband and dogs?" Saeyoung prompted. His legs were shaking a bit by mid-lap two. Why was his living room so big?

"Why do you assume I'm going to get a husband?!"

"I don't know, Ms. Mary Vanderwood~"

"Ugh, you're so obnoxious. Are you done being an idiot now? Focus on your training if you're only going to be talking about impossible scenarios!"

"Okay okay, I will. But you never answered me earlier."

"About what?" Vanderwood sighed.

"Would you even want to leave the agency?"

"You never asked me that."

"Pretty sure I did."

"You _didn't_."

"Avoiding the question." Saeran muttered.

"Yeah yeah! He's right! Answer me!"

"God...You were less annoying to deal with when you were younger. And not addicted to soda." Vanderwood rubbed at his forehead. "I don't know, 707. Maybe I would if I knew I could get away with it. But I'm tired of hypotheticals! Especially if they could get all of us killed!"

"There aren't any bugs in my house." Saeyoung assured seriously. "You know that I wouldn't risk something like that just to talk hypotheticals."

Vanderwood met his gaze. Saeyoung didn't look away. Saeran watched both of the men neutrally. Vanderwood finally nodded. "Fine. Get back to work."

"Yes ma'am!" Saeyoung saluted.

"Stop calling me ma'am!"

* * *

It was late at night and Saeyoung found himself exhausted from staring at his computer all day. His work was finally almost done. He just needed to work for a little bit longer. But because he knew he was so close to being done, the urge to procrastinate was even stronger. He had already been on the RFA chatroom earlier to look through all of the recent messages, though, so he was already caught up with that. V had yet to answer his or Saeran's calls. Saeyoung was itching to make something or do something with his hands. He wasn't sure what, though.

His phone rang then. Saeyoung lifted it up, heart racing with the hope that it was V, but instead he found Yuna's profile picture waving at him. That only made him more excited in a different way, but also confused. What was she doing calling this late? She shouldn't be up. Had something happened to her?

Vanderwood was still lurking, though. He would get mad if he saw how close Saeyoung was and he had stopped to chat on the phone. Saeyoung eyed the man as he got up from his seat and answered the phone, hurrying past Vanderwood towards the garage.

"Shh shh, hang on. Give me a few seconds." He told Yuna in lieu of a greeting. The woman on the other end giggled a bit as Saeyoung hummed and entered the garage, closing the door behind him and heading over to one of his cars. He had left a swivel chair next to the one he had been working on recently, so he took a seat there and spun in the chair as he said, "Okay I'm good. What's up?"

"Hi, Luciel." Yuna yawned loudly. Her yawn was cute, Saeyoung decided as he laughed a bit.

"If you're tired, why are you calling me?"

"We haven't talked on the phone since you took me to Rika's apartment." Yuna explained. "I missed hearing your voice."

Saeyoung felt warm at that. It had been on purpose that he hadn't called her or picked up her phone calls, though. He had needed to recover and remind himself to restore a careful distance between them after he had almost kissed her back at the apartment.

"Sorry, I've just been busy. You wouldn't believe how obnoxious work is being. I can't even find time to track your phone."

Yuna sighed at that, but she didn't sound as upset about the topic as she did this morning over the chatroom. "Ooh, I love it when guys hack my phone to find my location~ So sexy~ I'm so turned on I don't know what to do, Luciel~"

Oh God, even if she was playing she couldn't say his name like that. It put all kinds of images and thoughts into his head. She had to know what she was doing to him, right? He tried to ignore it and play instead, "I'm glad you like it so much since it seems necessary~"

Yuna hummed, which sent shivers down Saeyoung's spine. It was a good thing he had decided not to be around Vanderwood for this chat. "Actually…" Yuna's tone of voice changed as it lost its silliness, "maybe you're right…"

"Yuna?" He asked, shaking off the spell of the moment as he realized she was being serious.

"Before you get too worked up, don't worry a lot." She warned. "I'm not saying that you guys have anything to worry about. But...I don't know. Today was a bit weird."

"Weird how?" Saeyoung asked.

"Can I tell you? I haven't told Zen or anyone yet...but I thought you would be the person to talk to about this. You know about weird things, right?"

"I'm practically a jack of all trades!" Saeyoung agreed. "Tell me about this weird thing."

Yuna yawned again. He heard the shift of skin on cloth and realized she must have been in that bedroom she had mentioned earlier. Didn't she say she wasn't able to walk around on her own in that place? It seemed really suspicious. He hoped that she would decide to leave sooner rather than later.

"Okay...Remember how I said I was going to hang with the Savior earlier?"

"Yeah?"

She lowered her voice a bit. Who was she trying to make sure didn't hear her? "Well...What we spoke about was strange. She kept mentioning the darkness inside of her...and inside of everyone there. And how nobody really understood it. And she's totally right of course. I don't get it at all. But she was saying that to understand a person you have to understand their darkness. Do you get that at all?"

Understand their darkness? Yes, he could kind of see that. Saeyoung certainly had many dark things in his life. Could anyone really understand him without knowing that darkness? He wondered. He didn't really want anybody to know about it, though. Saeran knowing was enough for him. "Uh...kind of?"

"Yeah, that's about where I'm at too. She wants to come to the RFA party. She thinks me being the coordinator is a great idea."

Saeyoung still had a bad feeling. Something was bothering him, but he didn't really know what. "Okay? Yeah that's weird, but I'm not sure what you're expecting me to get out of it to be honest."

"Hear me out. I'm not done yet." Yuna shifted again. Wherever she was now echoed more. It sounded like it might be a bathroom. "The weirdest part, Luciel, was that she acted like she knew about the RFA. Like, she seemed to know a lot more than even I do!"

Saeyoung sat up sharply. "What do you mean? What kind of things did she say?"

"I can't remember them all. It's just the way she _spoke_. She has such a way with words that even at the time when they made sense I'm over here really thinking through them and they're just...confusing? But I don't feel like she's totally wrong? I just feel like I don't understand yet." She took a breath. "Luciel, I'm wondering if V and the Savior know each other somehow."

Saeyoung frowned. Why would V know anything about Mint Eye? Even if he did, why would he warn Yuna against it? If it was so important, why wasn't he answering any phone calls made to him? Or calling back? V, where the hell were you?

"It's...possible." He finally admitted. "V and Rika...they had more connections than a lot of us here. Who knows what they did and didn't tell us?"

"That's another thing. Do you think the Savior knew Rika too?"

"If she knows V, she probably knows Rika."

"This is confusing." Yuna sighed. "I thought this would be a pretty straightforward thing, but it's becoming a bit messed up." She paused and there was a smile in her voice as she said, "I'm actually kind of relieved to hear that you're gonna at least know where I am."

"Are you worried about your safety? You should just leave if you are. You can't stay there if you think you're in danger!" Saeyoung didn't know what he would do if Yuna ended up being in real danger. He probably wouldn't be able to sit still for it.

"I don't think I'm in danger...but if I am I'll let you guys know. Something is really weird here and I wanna get to the bottom of it. If worse comes to worse, I do know self-defense. That should at least help me out in a pinch."

"Self-defense isn't always the best choice. If you get suspicious, you should just run."

"Hmm...okay." Yuna sounded exhausted. It must have been pretty disturbing if she was staying up this late just to talk to Saeyoung.

"Yuna, I'm serious. You have to stay safe, okay? The party isn't worth you getting hurt."

"I don't see myself getting hurt...but if everyone's so worried I'll be more on guard. I just really wanna know what the heck is happening here."

"Be careful."

"I will. Thank you, Luciel." For a long while, neither of them spoke. Saeyoung liked just having her on the line with him. He wanted to see her in person again. Maybe he could make something for her? Would she want some kind of gift? He was about to bring it up to her when she spoke again, "I should get some sleep...Will I see you on the chatroom tomorrow?"

"Sure! You'll always see me there!"

She laughed. "Okay~ But make sure you sleep too. I don't want to hear you missed sleep again!"

"Gah, I'm being mother-henned!" He joked.

"Yes, you are! If I have to be, then you have to too! I'll be your mother, Saeyoung!"

Saeyoung shook that image out of his head. "Will you be a good mother and feed me when I'm hungry?" He asked.

"I'll feed you and kiss you good night every night~"

Saeyoung's cheeks warmed. He could imagine Yuna crawling into bed with him and snuggling up next to him. She would lean in and he would gladly meet her for a kiss as he would link his fingers together with hers. If he could fall asleep like that every night, he would. He wanted that.

"H-haha, sounds like you're ready to be a good mother!" Saeyoung stuttered and cursed himself for doing so. He really needed to get a grip. He wasn't equipped to deal with so much flirting from someone he actually liked.

"Pfft!" Yuna began to laugh. "I flirt with you and you tell me I'd be a good mother? Haha! You're so cute!"

Saeyoung couldn't deal with it anymore. "A-Anyway! I should get going! You need to rest, and I need to finish my work!"

"Nooo! I'm not done teasing you yet~"

"Good night, Yuna! Sleep well and dream of Yoosungs tonight!"

"Can I dream of you instead?"

She gets really flirtatious when she was tired, didn't she? "Oh! Maybe 707 will make an appearance in your dreams tonight?! You'll have to sleep to find out! And I have to sleep too...maybe I can figure out how to enter other people's dreams…"

"If you do, I'm a willing participant!"

"But maybe I wanna visit my dear Elly?"

"Come to me first and let's go together. I wanna see Elly too!"

"It's a deal!"

"Good night, Luciel. I hope you have very good dreams tonight."

"You too. Good night." He hung up the phone. If he was lucky, he would dream of her. He hoped she dreamed of him too. Maybe he really would somehow visit her dreams tonight.


End file.
